Wither the SEC?

One of the most noteworthy elements of The Department of the Treasury Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure (hereafter referred to as "The Blueprint" since "TDTBMFRS" is a tad unwieldy) is the intention to merge the SEC and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

The Blueprint, a 218-page document, is available here.

A seven-page summary of The Blueprint is available here.

The intention of this merger, The Blueprint emphasizes, is "unified oversight" over two groups of financial products whose differences have grown "increasingly blurred."

What does SEC Chair Christopher Cox think of the proposal? Tough to say. In this official statement, released on March 29, Cox said all the right things ("...financial services regulation in the United States needs to be better integrated among fewer agencies...") without saying too much.

In what would have qualified as major GRC news in other times, President Bush announced his two intended nominees to fill two vacant Democrat seats (formerly held by commissioners Roel Campos and Annette Nazareth) on the SEC: Luis Aguilar, currently a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, and Elisse Walter, currently the Senior Executive Vice President for Regulatory Policy & Programs at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Interestingly, Walter previously served as General Counsel of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Could that experience help smooth the post-merger integration process?