Congressional All-Nighter Leads to Financial Regulatory System Overhaul

The federal government's authority over Wall Street will be expanded as part of a new deal struck between House and Senate negotiators.   According to the New York Times, the legislation imposes new rules on risky business practices and exotic investment instruments.  The new regulation is designed to nip the re-emergence of the free-wheeling culture that led to near economic collapse in 2008.  It levies large fees on the financial services industry, the Times reports, generating the funds to pay the projected $20-billion dollar cost of the oversight program.

The new regulatory regime is designed to reign in the big financial players without restricting the markets or tightening the flow of credit to business.

President Obama called the proposed legislation "the toughest financial reform since the ones we created in the aftermath of the Great Depression."  Congressional passage of the legislation is expected this week with the goal of sending it to the president for his signature by July 4th.