News and Analysis Everyday Contact our Licensing Department Today

Obama would update financial market regs


Published: March 27, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Print story
Email to a friend
Font size:
NEW YORK, March 27 (UPI) -- Immediate relief for homeowners hit by the housing crisis and updating the regulatory framework are key to U.S. economic recovery, Barak Obama said Thursday.

Bankruptcy laws must change so homeowners could renegotiate predatory or fraudulent mortgages, the Democratic presidential hopeful told a New York audience. He also highlighted his sponsorship of legislation that would create a Federal Housing Administration program to help stabilize the housing market.

The time is ripe to revamp the regulatory framework that deals with financial markets, said the senator from Illinois.

"First, if you can borrow from the federal government, you should be subject to government oversight and supervision," Obama said, referring to the Federal Reserve's financial assistance in the Bear Stearns purchase by JPMorgan Chase.

Other reforms include streamlining duties of regulatory agencies, regulating institutions "for what they do, not what they are," cracking down on trading activities that "cross the line to market manipulation" and developing a process to identify risks to the financial system.

"The core of our economic success is that each American does better when all Americans do better," he said and the goals of markets and people are aligned.

© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
Print story
Order reprints
Email to a friend
Post comment
See Also:
» Next in Top News: Obama criticizes McCain on mortgage stand

OBAMA 2008
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks during a news conference in Chicago on March 12, 2008. Obama received the endorsement of several retired Admirals and Generals Wednesday. (UPI Photo/Brian Kersey)
Full Photo | Slideshow