VOA标准英语2009年-US Regulators Want New Powers to Deal With Fina

America's top financial officials say they need broad new powers to regulate companies like insurance giant AIG, which are partly blamed for the country's financial crisis. Treasury 1 Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday.
　
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, left, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, 24 March 2009

In recent weeks AIG and its multi-billion dollar taxpayer 2 bailout have become targets of public fury and frustration 3. A once-successful titan in the insurance industry, AIG (American Insurance Group) became enmeshed in America's home mortgage meltdown by insuring questionable 4 debt accrued 5 by banks and other institutions around the world. After receiving more than $180 billion in emergency federal assistance to stave off collapse 6, AIG recently gave top employees bonuses totaling $165 million - even as the company reported the biggest quarterly loss in U.S. corporate 7 history.

Ire over the AIG debacle continued to smolder 8 on Capitol Hill.

"Bonuses paid out by profitable companies to outstanding employees make sense," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican. "Taxpayer-funded bonuses paid out by failing companies that owe taxpayers 9 money make no sense."

Some AIG executives have returned the bonuses they received, while Congress ponders legislation that would tax the bonuses at an exceptionally high rate.

President Barack Obama has expressed misgivings 10 about the legislation, but he insists he shares in the public's outrage 11 over the AIG bonuses.

Treasury Secretary Geithner agreed that the bonuses are unconscionable, but said there was no practical way for him to block them. In addition, he said the government's options for dealing 12 with AIG's collapse were limited from the start.

"This is a tragic 13 thing," said Geithner. "We came into this crisis without the authority and the tools necessary to contain the damage to the American economy posed by the very severe pressures working through the financial system."

As Geithner explained, the federal government has the power to take over and liquidate 14 failed banks. But no such mechanism 15 exists for non-bank financial institutions like AIG whose failure would inflict 16 great economic pain on the nation as a whole. The treasury secretary listed the powers the government should possess going forward.
　
US Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke

"To sell or transfer the assets or liability of the institution in question. To renegotiate or repudiate 17 the institution's contracts and prevent certain financial contracts with the institution from being terminated on account of conservatorship or receivership," he said. "This proposed legislation would fill a significant void in the current financial services regulatory structure."

Some have asked why companies like AIG were not allowed to go bankrupt, rather than the government investing massive sums of taxpayer money to prop 18 them up.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said AIG's bankruptcy 19 would have made a dire 20 financial crisis far worse, possibly turning an economic recession into a prolonged depression.

"Its failure could have resulted in a 1930s-style global financial and economic meltdown, with catastrophic implications for production, income and jobs," he said.

Several members of Congress, including Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, echoed Secretary Geithner's call for reform. The secretary promised to provide details of the plan in coming days.