Such a criticism of course applies with particular force to the US Federal Reserve since, in addition to their monetary responsibilities, they are also the regulator of US bank holding companies. They need to explain why they were not more forceful and effective in getting banks under their charge to reduce the concentration risk associated with large holdings of both unsecuritized and securitized mortgages and other asset-backed securities. 10 Reform of Wall Street compensation plans has been discussed for some time, going back well before this crisis. The rub in previous efforts was that firms were reluctant to implement/sustain such plans.
