Can Wall Street be Trusted?

Now that we have healthcare reform, which can only help the retirement efforts of a younger population and control the costs of the older generation closer to the retirement goal, it is time to focus on the problems in the financial system.  This is no easy task.

Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of his chamber's Banking Committee takes up the challenge beginning on Monday (03.22.10) with the same opposition and negative opinions circling the effort as President Obama's healthcare bill.  Only this time, Wall Street is being asked for their say-so.  So far, it has been about what they don't want; not what they are willing to give.

Retirement focused Americans should be wary of WS efforts to soften the reform ("The fact is that there is relative uniformity in the financial-services industry that something ought to be done as long as it is reasonable," says T. Timothy Ryan, president and CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or Sifma, a trade group representing hundreds of securities firms, banks and asset managers), enforce the Volcker rule (re-write of the Bank Holding Company Act, which would prohibit proprietary trading and hedge-fund sponsorship for "systematically important" institutions with assets of $50 billion or more) and make everyone in the financial system accountable ("We would hate to oppose this -- and we haven't been").

From Barron's.

This article previously appeared as a new feature at Target2025.com: Repercussion- A Retirement Review.