Congressman Jim Leach is pushing to merge two federal agencies that oversee the nation’s financial markets. Leach has authored a bill that would combine the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission in one agency.Leach says the S-E-C has a big staff without a lot of authority, while the Commodities Futures Trading Commission has broad authority over ag markets, but only a tiny staff. Leach says it makes much more sense to bring the two together in a single agency that would have broader powers.Leach says cracking down on the wrong-doers in Corporate America is just as important as dealing with the world’s terrorists.Leach says the U-S is more vulnerable to internal mistakes than we are to external threats, so attention to the issue of corporate accountability is an “absolute must” according to Leach. Leach, who’s a republican from Iowa City, is a former chairman of the House Banking Committee.
