States seek regulatory improvements

“We think the goal of this database is a laudable one, but you can’t turn a blind eye to the fact that almost every state requires that data to be kept confidential,” Ferguson told the Gazette.

In New York, Richard H. Neiman, superintendent of the State of New York Banking Department, called upon the U.S. Treasury to improve loan guarantees and credit enhancements, and to focus on preventing unnecessary foreclosures. He called the Troubled Asset Relief Program a “step in the right direction” to develop a global response to the economic crisis.

“Unfreezing credit markets is vital, but lasting stability needs a solution that also addresses the origins of the problem: the escalating numbers of American families who are losing their most valuable asset – their homes,” he told members of the New York Bankers Association.