U.S. Mulls Creating Regulatory Panel

By Martin Crutsinger

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is actively considering creating a regulatory commission to protect consumers of financial products such as credit cards and mortgages in an effort to crack down on some of the abuses that helped trigger the current financial crisis, according to administration and industry officials.

These officials said that the administration has been exploring such an approach in meetings over the past few days with executives of the financial services industry.

There was also a discussion of the proposal at a dinner Tuesday night at the Treasury Department attended by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers, director of the president's National Economic Council.

An administration official who confirmed that the dinner had taken place said that no final decisions had been reached. The meeting was first reported by the Washington Post on its Web site.

However, an industry official said that the administration supported the concept that has already been introduced in legislation by several senators but may offer its own approach to the issue.

The officials who spoke Tuesday night did so on condition that their names not be used because the administration is not ready to unveil a proposal.

Treasury issued a statement late Tuesday that called the dinner "one of a series of meetings with a wide range of relevant constituencies and experts" to seek views on regulatory reform.

"Tonight's outreach meeting was largely attended by academic experts and former government officials. Other meetings have been held with consumer and investor groups and a wide range of financial services and market participants," the Treasury statement said. "No decisions have been made but the administration is actively seeking various viewpoints as it puts together its framework."