July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Representative Maxine Waters introduced legislation to ban all credit-default swaps, the financial instruments blamed in helping to take down American International Group Inc.

“Credit-default swaps are one of many contributing factors to the current economic crisis,” Waters, a California Democrat, said in a statement released at a hearing today on the Obama administration’s plan to rein in the $592 trillion industry. “Preventing all credit-default swaps is essential to bringing stability to the market and preventing a similar crisis in the future.”

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is testifying before a joint hearing of the House Financial Services and Agriculture committees. The administration’s plan doesn’t call for an outright ban on credit default swaps.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dawn Kopecki in Washington at dkopecki@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 10, 2009 10:38 EDT