Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair has announced the creation of a new organization that will focus on federal regulatory reform.
The New York Times reports that Bair's new group, the Systemic Risk Council, will issue reports on the development and enactment of financial regulations. The group will include a bipartisan line-up of former government officials – including former Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill and former Sens. Bill Bradley and Alan K. Simpson – along with private sector leaders such as John S. Reed, the former head of Citicorp, and Hugh F. Johnston, the chief financial officer of Pepsico.
Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is listed as a senior advisor for the Systemic Risk Council, which is being formed by the Pew Charitable Trusts – Bair's current employer – and the CFA Institute.
In announcing the council's creation, Bair expressed frustration at the current pace of financial regulatory reform.
‘The public is becoming cynical about whether the regulators can do anything right, which is undermining support for reforms,’ she says, noting that regulators have missed missed two-thirds of the 221 deadlines for adopting regulations set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act.