WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) joined President Obama and other Congressional leaders today at the bill signing ceremony for historic financial regulatory reform legislation he helped craft as a member of the Senate Banking Committee. The new law, which comes almost two years after the nation’s financial system almost collapsed, has been described as the most ambitious overhaul of financial regulation in a generation.

Senator Warner played a key role in drafting those parts of the new law that end taxpayer bailouts. He also helped design several new tools that will allow regulators to identify and disentangle complex, interconnected financial firms that once would have been described as “too big to fail.”

“I don’t want to hear the words ‘too big to fail’ ever again. We have set-up new ‘tripwires’ that allow a council of federal regulators to watch for threats to the financial system, and we allow them to take responsible action to shut down large, troubled financial companies in order to protect the stability of our entire economy,” Senator Warner said. “We also have come up with appropriate tools to ‘unwind’ these failing firms and put them out of business through an orderly bankruptcy process, and all of this will occur at the expense of the financial industry – not the taxpayers.”

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, praised Senator Warner’s pivotal role in writing key parts of the legislation.

“While a relatively junior member of the Banking Committee, there was no member of this chamber who added as much to this bill as the Senator from Virginia. There are not words or time for me to adequately express my gratitude to him for his involvement, literally on an almost hourly basis,” Chairman Dodd said in remarks on the Senate floor just prior to the final vote on the legislation.

The reforms signed into law today put an end to many predatory and deceptive lending practices that unfairly harm consumers. The law creates an independent consumer watchdog bureau within the Federal Reserve to protect borrowers against abuses when they shop for mortgage, credit card, and other types of lending.

“Never again will Virginians be treated unfairly because of ‘fine print’ or hidden bank fees,” Senator Warner said. “Consumers will be empowered through greater access to the clear and concise information they need to make the financial decisions that are right for them.”

Virginia’s smaller, community-based banks and credit unions – those Main Street banks and other local financial companies who follow the rules every day and did nothing to trigger the 2008 financial catastrophe -- are exempted from many of these new requirements.

In addition, the law eliminates many of the loopholes that allowed risky and abusive practices to go unnoticed and unregulated. Under the new rules, the shadowy markets for over-the-counter derivatives, asset-backed securities and other complex financial instruments that helped fuel the 2008 crisis will be subject to government oversight for the first time. The new law also provides tough new rules for transparency and accountability for Wall Street credit rating agencies.

“I recognize that simply passing this legislation is only half of the challenge: now these new requirements must be implemented in a responsible and rational way. But we are providing consistent and rational oversight that allows our country to compete globally even as we grow our economies locally,” Senator Warner said.

“When the American financial system operates on rules that promote fairness and openness, based on principles that promote economic growth and stability, we all win.”

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