国际英语新闻：U.S. regulators to strengthen financial infrastructure, says Fed chairman

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. regulators will be engaged in a broad effort to strengthen the financial infrastructure, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday.

    "In doing so, we aim not only to make the financial system better able to withstand future shocks, but also -- by reducing the range of circumstances in which systemic stability concerns might prompt government intervention -- to mitigate moral hazard and the problem of 'too big to fail'," Bernanke said in prepared remarks to a forum on mortgage lending in Virginia.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation forum on mortgage lending for low- and moderate-income households at the William Seidman Center in Arlington, Virginia, July 8, 2008

"In the longer term, legislation may be needed to provide a more robust framework for the prudential supervision of investment banks and other large securities dealers," said the central bank chief.

    "Strong holding company oversight is essential and thus, in my view, the Congress should consider requiring consolidated supervision of those firms, providing the regulator the authority to set standards for capital, liquidity holdings, and risk management," he added.

    He also urged the Congress to "consider whether our current regulatory structure needs to be modernized to address the changes that have occurred in the structure of the financial system, including the enormous growth of non-bank financial institutions and the development of new financial products."

    Bernanke also noted that the Federal Reserve is considering giving Wall Street firms more time to draw emergency loans directly from the central bank to help them overcome the current credit turmoil.

    "The financial turmoil is ongoing, and our efforts today are concentrated on helping the financial system return to more normal functioning," he said.

    "It is not too soon, however, to begin to think about the steps we might take to reduce the incidence and severity of future crises."