Financial oversight urged

WASHINGTON — If big Wall Street investment houses are allowed to run to the Federal Reserve for emergency lending, they must face stepped-up regulation, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday.

The demise of once-mighty Bear Stearns proves "the world has changed," underscoring a need for the government to adapt, too, he said.

The Bush administration will soon put forth an oversight blueprint in an effort to promote smoother functioning of financial markets, Paulson said in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The implosion of investment house Bear Stearns and fears that others could be in jeopardy have sent a tremor rippling through trading rooms of Wall Street, the corridors of official Washington and the living rooms of many Americans. The situation has raised new questions about whether regulations need to be revamped to better keep up with the world of modern finance and to avert a repeat of the chaos now confronting the nation.

Commercial banks, a national financial bedrock, are subject to regulations, including bank examinations and rules for submitting detailed financial information, to help regulators gauge their safety and soundness.

However, the modern U.S. financial system has become a complex web of financial players — institutions and individuals and practices that are subject to widely different rules.

"This latest episode has highlighted that the world has changed, as has the role of other nonbank financial institutions and the interconnectedness among all financial institutions," Paulson said. "These changes require us all to think more broadly about the regulatory and supervisory framework that is consistent with the promotion and maintenance of financial stability."

In extraordinary actions aimed at preventing a meltdown of the U.S. financial system, the Federal Reserve recently backed JPMorgan Chase's takeover of Bear Stearns and agreed to provide a multibillion-dollar lifeline for the deal. In addition, the Fed — in the broadest use of its lending authority since the 1930s — said it would let squeezed Wall Street investment houses come to it directly for emergency loans. That has long been a privilege just for commercial banks.

Paulson said he supported that action, but added that it raised important policy considerations about the oversight of investment houses.

The secretary said commercial banks' access to the Fed's emergency lending "discount window" has traditionally been accompanied by regulatory oversight and supervision. "Certainly any regular access to the discount window should involve the same type of regulation and supervision," Paulson said.