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TITLE I - Troubled Assets Relief Program

Sec. 108. Conflicts of Interest. (3 Comments) subscribe to the comments feed

  1. STANDARDS REQUIRED.The Secretary shall issue regulations or guidelines necessary to address and manage or to prohibit conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with the administration and execution of the authorities provided under this Act, including




    1. conflicts arising in the selection or hiring of contractors or advisors, including asset managers;




    2. the purchase of troubled assets;




    3. the management of the troubled assets held;




    4. post-employment restrictions on employees; and




    5. any other potential conflict of interest, as the Secretary deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest.






  2. TIMING.Regulations or guidelines required by this section shall be issued as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act.

3 comments on Sec. 108. Conflicts of Interest.

  • You can drive a truck through this by gaming the timing clause.

    1. Change "address and manage or to prohibit" to "prohibit or minimize." "Address" could mean that the conflicts are acknowledged and allowed.

    2. Change "as soon as practicable" to "within 14 days." I can't believe that language hasn't been crafted elsewhere already that can be easily adopted.

    3. Add "regulations shall be retroactive to the passage of the act," or language with the effect of rooting out conflicts that arose before the regulations were promulgated.

    posted by lambert strether (Corrente) at September 29, 2008

  • This should also apply to the Secretary. He should not ever be allowed to return to Wall Street or manage private assets including his own. He should have to convert everything to cash or real property. The judge cannot be vested in the case.

    posted by ray at September 29, 2008

  • The Treasury Secretary, as the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, has the biggest conflict of interest of all. And this provision gives *HIM* the power to deal with conflicts of interest? That's insane.

    Instead, the Treasury Secretary should resign and someone without conflicts of interest should be designated to manage the bailout.

    posted by Nathanael Nerode at October 1, 2008
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