Geithner Says Dodd-Frank Opponents Add to Market Uncertainty - Businessweek

Geithner Says Dodd-Frank Opponents Add to Market Uncertainty

February 09, 2012, 12:20 AM ESTBy Cheyenne Hopkins and Ian Katz 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner criticized opponents of new financial industry regulations and said the first non-banks deemed systemically risky will be named this year.

“Those who are working to slow the pace of reform will only increase uncertainty, and they will damage our efforts to try to get the rest of the world to adopt a level playing field,” Geithner said in Washington yesterday.

Geithner defended the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and said regulators are “making considerable progress in implementing reform.” The law has come under attack from Republicans in Congress and presidential candidates.

“We have forced a necessary and fundamental restructuring of the financial system,” Geithner told reporters at the Treasury Department. “But even with these changes, and even with the remaining damage caused by the financial crisis, our financial system is once again helping support economic growth by meeting the growing demand for credit and capital at lower cost.”

The financial industry has fought Dodd-Frank, arguing that the regulatory overhaul imposes excessive capital requirements on banks. President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats say it tightens oversight of financial markets and companies in the wake of the credit crisis that led to the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Source: Click to Read More -- 

Geithner Says Dodd-Frank Opponents Add to Market Uncertainty - Businessweek