Geithner presses committee for reforms

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed lawmakers in Washington Thursday to stay the course on regulatory reform for the financial system.

Geithner said the goal was to "ensure that Americans are never again forced to suffer the consequences of a preventable economic collapse."

The current collapse was "the result of a system vulnerable to bubbles, panic and collapse," he said in text prepared for the Joint Economic Committee.

Geithner laid out four principles of reform. First, "firms must not be able to escape or avoid regulation by choosing one legal form over another." Second, "there must be clear regulatory accountability," he said.

"This is no place for regulation by council or committee," he said.

Third, he said, the private sector must be required to maintain a greater cushion against shocks.

Fourth on Geithner's list, "no financial institution should be considered too big to fail," he said.

"No financial system can operate efficiently if financial institutions and investors assume that the government will protect them from the consequences of failure," he said.