Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Press Release

Attorney General's Statement On Sweeping Federal Financial Reform Package

November 10, 2009

"This reform package is the boldest and broadest yet -- the first to recognize that ordinary consumers and shareholders, not simply powerful executives, deserve power and protections in our financial markets. Both Main Street and Wall Street should strongly support this compelling package. Sen. Dodd's courage and vision have provided profoundly significant leadership.

"This reform roadmap offers a historic opportunity similar to the securities regulatory revamp of the 1930s that kept our financial markets safe for 60 years. It's a regulatory game-changer that our economy needs and consumers deserve.

"Most critical, this regulatory restructuring would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the first and only agency to strictly represent consumer interests over large and complex financial institutions.

"It emboldens and empowers my office -- and all state attorneys generals -- to continue the fight against financial fraud and abuse, including deceptive debt rescue schemes and skewed credit rating practices. It preserves -- not preempts -- states' rights to enact more powerful and protective laws when necessary.

"Massive hedge funds and dangerous derivatives will no longer operate in a regulatory black hole. Blind, bought-and-paid-for credit ratings by profit-driven credit rating agencies would no longer be tolerated. Oversized house-of-card companies will face limits to protect against catastrophic collapse.

"I will help fight for these reforms -- seeking to enlist my colleagues, attorneys general across the country, in support of this powerful package. Using existing laws, I will continue my investigations and legal actions against financial fraud to protect Connecticut consumers."