Rep. Fossella to Lead Republican Task Force on Capital Markets and US Competitiveness

Fossella Sets Aggressive Agenda to Develop Legislative Recommendations for Reform

[Washington, DC] – Congressman Vito Fossella today announced that he has been appointed Chairman of a new Republican Policy Committee Task Force focused on ways to enhance the capital markets and U.S. economic competitiveness.

The “Capital Markets, Economic and Information Security” Task Force, which is authorized under the House Republican Policy Committee, is charged with exploring the factors that may be impeding the competitiveness of the U.S. financial markets and making legislative recommendations for reform. 

Fossella said he intends to reach out to a broad spectrum of market participants throughout the U.S. to build upon the findings and recommendations included in several reports released on the issue over the past year. The Task Force will use the current recommendations as a starting point and focus on legislative remedies that would more effectively strike a balance between upholding investor protections and promoting competitive markets.  

“The success of our financial markets is essential to America’s long-term economic security, sustained economic growth and creation of quality jobs,” Fossella said. “Despite sustained economic growth and the creation of 7 million new jobs since 2003, the competitiveness of the American economy is facing a serious challenge from markets overseas. We must adapt to these changing circumstances to maintain our competitive advantage. The Task Force will focus on the reasons for a decline in America’s competitiveness and legislative recommendations to re-establish our capital markets as the destination of choice for investors and companies.”
Fossella will hold his first field hearing with market leaders in Chicago on Monday, June 4, 2007, on the topic of “Implications of the Regulatory Structure for U.S. Exchanges in the 21st Century.” The morning panel will be hosted by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and include representatives of the CBOE, Options Clearing Corporation, National Stock Exchange and the Chicago Stock Exchange. An afternoon panel hosted by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) will include officials of the CME, Chicago Board of Trade, Kansas City Board of Trade and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

Fossella said he is planning on holding as many as 10 additional Task Force hearing over the next several months in market hubs across the nation, including Philadelphia and New York.

A decline in U.S. economic competitiveness would have a significant negative impact on our national economy. One recent study predicted an annual loss of $30 billion in revenue from the financial services sector alone over the next five years, along with the 30,000 to 60,000 domestic jobs this money would have created. In addition, the report said that capital markets in European and Asian economies may have significantly more room to grow than in the U.S. due to lower capital markets penetration.

Fossella has been active in addressing concerns over U.S. competitiveness. In 2005, Fossella introduced legislation to make structural and procedural improvements to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in an effort to enhance communication between the policy-making and the enforcement and examination divisions of the agency. The SEC implemented several recommendations contained in the Fossella bill less than six months later. 

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