Chuck Schumer

Foreclosure is not an abstract concept. It's very real pain for American families.

But what are they doing differently? That is my question.

It would make sense.

Are the other banks sort of ignoring reality here?

The banks and servicers complain that the Administration rolled out its plan too quickly without consulting them.

I can't believe that two full years after the first signs of this crisis were becoming plain for all to see, we are still sitting here talking about how to prevent foreclosures.

I happen to be one that believes that the idea of principal reduction makes a lot more sense than interest rate reduction.

The standards by which these loans were allowed to go forward were lax and unrealistic.

Do you think many of the other banks would be willing to accept that kind of methodology?

It doesn't seem to me to be too hard to figure out a fair rent.

One of the things I am thinking about is giving homeowners facing foreclosure the option as a last resort of renting their home for a period of time at a fair market rate.

It is sort of befuddling as to why it is not working, but it clearly isn't working the way it should be and so you need to change things.

People like Donna Pierce didn't deserve to lose their homes.

Shouldn't private investment funds be required to disclose information to the SEC for the purpose of investigating and enforcing antifraud rules?

I have called this hearing to explore another key aspect of such reforms, the regulation of hedge funds and other private investment pools.

It seems obvious to me that closer attention needs to be paid to these funds to avoid future Ponzi schemes

These private pools of capital are responsible for huge transfers of capital and risk, and so examining these industries and potential regulation are extremely important to this Subcommittee.

To address this regulatory gap, I recently introduced the Private Fund Transparency Act of 2009.

I recently introduced the Private Fund Transparency Act of 2009, which would require investment advisers to private funds...

We need to empower the SEC to do more.

The current financial crisis has reinvigorated my long-held concern that the regulation of hedge funds and other pooled investment vehicles should be improved.

We applaud Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Rush Holt for their leadership in introducing these bills.

Thank you for your leadership.

I think that the agency will enable financial innovation to occur based on a level playing field with high standards.

I am very much for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.