Kanjorski at Harvard to discuss reform bill

U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, will speak at Harvard Law School’s International Finance Seminar guest lecture series today. He will be the keynote speaker this afternoon for the series to discuss the “Kanjorski amendment” that addresses companies that are “too big to fail” and his efforts in Congress to reform the regulatory structure of the financial services industry.

“It is an honor to be invited to speak as the keynote speaker at this lecture series,” Kanjorski said in a release. “I look forward to discussing the current state of the economy and where we have come since last fall. I also intend to prompt conversation on my amendment, which would prevent companies from becoming “too big to fail.”

Kanjorski said that because of his amendment, American taxpayers would no longer be on the hook for bailouts because companies would not be able to become too big to fail and would not have the capabilities of causing serious harm to the U.S. economy as some have done in the past year.

“As I work in Congress to pass legislation to reform the regulatory structure of the financial services industry, I am very pleased that this amendment as well as some of my other pieces of legislation addressing financial-services regulatory reform have passed in the Financial Services Committee,” Kanjorski said. “I look forward to moving them forward to the House floor.”

Past guest lecture series speakers at Harvard have included U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee; Andrew Crockett, former general manager of the Bank for International Settlements in Europe; William Donaldson, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Callum McCarthy, former chairman of the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom; and Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council and former U.S. Treasury Secretary.

On Wednesday, Kanjorski released, and the Financial Services Committee passed, the Kanjorski amendment to the Financial Stability Improvement Act. Kanjorski said the act would empower federal regulators to “rein in and dismantle financial firms that are so large, inter-connected, or risky that their collapse would put at risk the entire American economic system, even if those firms currently appear to be well-capitalized and healthy.”

“Therefore, American taxpayers should no longer be on the hook for bailouts, as financial companies would not be able to become too big to fail,” Kanjorski said.

The congressman has introduced four of the eight pieces of legislation that the Financial Services Committee will use to address regulatory reform of the financial services industry. The bills aim to better protect investors, enhance credit agency regulation, force the registration of the advisers to hedge funds and private equity pools, and create a federal insurance office. The Financial Services Committee passed three of the bills and Kanjorski said the committee will consider the Federal Insurance Office Act in early December.

The International Finance Seminar is intended for students who are interested in international finance and the structure of financial regulation in an increasingly globalized economy. The seminar explores issues of current interest in the field, including the competitiveness of U.S. financial markets, regulatory reform of financial regulation in the United States and around the world, the structure of regulatory cooperation in global markets, and the role of public and private enforcement in financial markets.

Clear 25°

News

The amendment that takes on companies “too big to fail” is advancing to the House floor.

Place Quick Ads