New foundation, walls intact

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: Even Merton Miller, a Nobel prize-winning economist with a passion for financial arcana, found it “deadly dull”. But if ever there was a week when financial regulation set pulses racing, this was surely it—at least for those too young to remember the great reforms of the Depression.

Having spent much of the past year trying to prevent all-out financial collapse, America’s leaders are now turning their attention to reinforcing the structures that would prevent a repeat. The proposals that Barack Obama unveiled on June 17 would refashion the federal rules governing almost every corner of finance, pushing government much more deeply into private markets and partially rolling back 30 years of liberalisation. It is, the president declared, nothing short of a “new foundation”, designed to curb “risks built on piles of sand”.

Eye-catching though the 88-page “white paper” is, it is not as bold as it might have been. In any case, it merely sounds the opening salvo in a battle that could stretch into next year, since much of the plan requires approval in Congress, where jurisdictional and ideological clashes beckon.

The emphasis is on closing gaps where risk had been allowed to build up. Supervision of all firms big enough to threaten overall stability will be consolidated under the Federal Reserve. These entities will be made to hold more capital and liquidity than smaller firms, though all will face higher requirements (which will be determined after a report at the end of this year). The Fed will be advised by a council of regulators that will also scan the horizon for emerging risks.

Another priority is the construction of a mechanism to wind down any failed financial giant, not just banks, so that officials no longer face an unenviable choice between bail-outs (AIG) and system-shaking collapse (Lehman Brothers).

The net is also being cast over markets in which freewheeling growth contributed to the crisis. Those who package loans together for securitisation will have to beef up disclosure and retain 5% of any deal they structure to encourage sounder underwriting—though the ban on hedging that exposure could be tricky to enforce. Sensibly, the plan calls for payment of arrangers’ fees to be spread over time and reduced if the loans blow up. It also builds on earlier proposals to rein in over-the-counter derivatives, such as credit-default swaps. Those not cleared centrally or traded on exchanges face higher charges.