Alliance Presents at Penn Risk Regulation Seminar
On October 13, 2015, the Volcker Alliance discussed the findings of its recent report, Reshaping the Financial Regulatory System: Long Delayed, Now Crucial, at a seminar on risk regulation convened by the Penn Program on Regulation. The panel, which was jointly sponsored by the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center and University of Pennsylvania Law School, generated an important dialogue about the future of the U.S. financial regulatory system.
Gaurav Vasisht, the Volcker Alliance’s Director of Financial Regulation, stressed the need to reform the outdated regulatory system in the interest of promoting financial stability, particularly given today’s dynamic and complex financial markets. The Dodd-Frank Act strengthened the regulation of financial institutions, he noted, but did not fundamentally restructure the regulatory framework that, with some exceptions, remains substantially the same as it was in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Michael Bradfield, General Counsel of the Volcker Alliance, underscored that serious regulatory vulnerabilities and weaknesses remain even after passage of the landmark Dodd-Frank Act and provided a detailed overview of the Report’s recommendations.
Cary Coglianese, Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science and Director of the Penn Program on Regulation, commented that the seminar “thoughtfully exposed both persistent and emerging challenges facing the U.S. financial regulatory system that must be confronted to improve the government’s ability to manage risk and stave off future financial crises.” Shelley H. Metzenbaum, Senior Advisor to the Volcker Alliance, hailed the Penn Program on Regulation for raising the profile of important regulatory policy implementation problems. “More attention,” she said, “must be given to the ‘unsexy’ issue of making sure that the intent of a law, once passed, is effectively translated through regulation and other tools to achieve the desired changes in the world, whether managing financial risks, environmental risks, or other problems.”
