REGULATE, BABY, REGULATE!

Credit Swaps Must Be Regulated `Immediately,' SEC's Cox Says

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said Congress should grant authority to regulate the credit-default swaps market amid concern the bets are fueling the global financial crisis.

Lawmakers should ``provide in statute the authority to regulate these products to enhance investor protection and ensure the operation of fair and orderly markets,'' Cox told the Senate Banking Committee today at a hearing in Washington. "Neither the SEC nor any regulator has authority over the CDS market, even to require minimal disclosure,'' and that should be addressed "immediately,'' Cox said in prepared testimony at a hearing to consider the government's $700 billion financial rescue plan.