Can Jack Lew Save Financial Reform?

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Three years after the passage of theDodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, it’stime to be honest about financial-sector reform: It hasn’t gonewell. (If you doubt this, read these articles by former U.S.Senator Ted Kaufman.)

Specifically, three issues have become abundantly clear.First, there was insufficient commitment in the original reformeffort to end the core problem of “too big to fail” financialinstitutions. Second, senior leadership at the TreasuryDepartment and other officials became comfortable with theglacial pace of implementation. Third, weak intent and officialfoot-dragging created fertile ground for lobbying, which furtherallowed the megabanks to slow the detailed rule-writing. Atpresent, reform is on a trajectory to do too little, too latewith regard to addressing the next crisis.