Barack Obama's plan to give the Federal Reserve extensive powers over all large US financial groups will be attacked on Wednesday by a coalition of investors, analysts and ex-regulators who say the Fed's credibility has been “tarnished” by its role in contributing to the crisis.
The strong stance by the investor community will fuel the heated debate over financial regulation and strengthen Congressional opposition to the administration's push for the Fed to monitor any company whose failure would endanger the banking system.
Wednesday's report, by an alliance including two former heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a group of investors with a total $3,000bn in assets and the investment analysts' trade body, will break the investment industry's silence on regulatory reform.