Thaindian News

Washington, March 6 (IANS) Financial sector regulators should push forward reforms to reduce risk and improve transparency, while preserving the best features of markets and the competitiveness of financial institutions, a senior US Treasury official said here Monday.

“We want to be careful to get the balance right — building a more stable financial system, with better protections for consumers and investors, while allowing for healthy financial innovation in support of economic growth,” Mary Miller, US assistant secretary for Financial Markets, said at the Annual Washington Conference of the Institute Of International Bankers (IIB).

The US government had no choice but to take aggressive reform steps to stabilize financial markets and help restart economic growth, as the financial crisis and its aftermath took a heavy toll on the US economy and fiscal situation, Miller said.

Much of the basic framework of the Dodd-Frank Act financial reform has come into effect, but industry regulars were finalizing relevant rules, Miller added.

“As a result of the reforms we have been putting into place, the financial system is getting stronger and safer. Financial institutions are better capitalized, less leveraged, and more liquid, which reduces systemic risks,” Xinhua quoted Miller as saying.

“Given the stark reality presented by our fiscal situation, the deep and widespread damage that the crisis inflicted, and the continuing uncertainty in markets overseas, we must be careful not to succumb to a collective amnesia about how close we came to a complete financial collapse less than four years ago,” she told a group of bankers and reporters.

Based in New York, the IIB is the leading industry association devoted to advancing the interests of internationally-headquartered banking and financial institutions operating in the US. Its membership is comprised of internationally headquartered institutions from more than 35 countries around the world.