Response to President’s financial regulatory restructuring principles
Proactive, affirmative consumer protection is essential to the safety and soundness of the financial system. The complex financial instruments that sparked the financial crisis were based on home loans that were poorly underwritten; unsuitable to the borrower; arranged by persons not bound to act in the best interest of the borrower; and contained terms so complex that many individual homeowners had little opportunity to fully understand the nature or magnitude of the risks of these loans. The crisis was magnified by highly leveraged, largely unregulated financial instruments and inadequate risk disclosures. The resulting crisis of confidence led to reduced credibility for the U.S. financial system, gridlocked credit markets, loss of equity for homeowners who accepted subprime mortgages and for their neighbors who did not, empty houses, declining neighborhoods and reduced property tax revenue. All of this started with a failure to protect consumers.
For more click on the link below (PDF):
http://www.defendyourdollars.org/pdf/Obama-financial-regulatory-restructuring.pdf