Obama to Rein In Dark Markets

Things might be looking up for those hoping for an overhaul of America’s financial system: The Obama administration wants to regulate the financial instruments that helped bring about the financial crisis and bankrupt some big Wall Street names—including AIG. The proposal to rein in the so-called dark markets, which trade a range of derivatives, will require congressional action. A securities law would be amended so that most derivatives would have to be traded by Securities and Exchange Commission- and Commodity Futures Trading Commission -regulated clearinghouses. Those clearinghouses “would require traders to maintain enough money in reserve so they could cover losses in any investments gone bad,” The Washington Post reports. In a two-page letter to congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner asked for swift approval of the plan.