Geithner praises progress on derivatives bills
Marcy GordonTreasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is pleased Congress has made progress in crafting legislation to impose new oversight on complex instruments blamed for hastening the financial crisis.
Geithner says legislation to bring transparency to the global, unregulated $600 trillion derivatives market is needed to restore confidence in the U.S. financial system.
In testimony prepared for the Senate Agriculture Committee, he says: "This is an enormously complex project. It is important that we get it right. And it is critical that we finish the job."
A major sticking point in Congress involves companies that use derivatives to hedge against risk. Some lawmakers want to exempt the so-called "end users" from new requirements in the overhaul legislation.
But Geithner says he's pleased by "the convergence on good policy" that has occurred.