Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd is all set to put his latest banking regulation bill up for a vote. The bill would put an end to proprietary trading, lend transparency to hedge fund trading and derivatives, and give the Federal Reserve the power break up companies if they pose a “grave threat” to the economy.  

Dodd’s proposal would also create a nine-member “Financial Stability Oversight Council” of regulators, led by the Treasury Secretary. According to Bloomberg, “…the council can make recommendations to the Fed to impose “strict” rules for capital, leverage, liquidity and risk management to make it difficult for firms to grow so big and complex that they endanger the financial system. It could require the Fed to regulate non-bank financial firms that threaten financial stability, ensuring that “the next AIG would be regulated” by the Fed…”   

It’s clear what Dodd is trying to accomplish here. He’s trying to make it so that financial firms can’t engage in trading activities that could ultimately destabilize the entire economy. I’m not sure these proposals, as I understand them, accomplish the objective.