Bush Administration Wants To Give Federal Reserve More Power

WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the government must move quickly to give the Federal Reserve more powers to regulate the financial system.

Paulson said Thursday that the central bank’s powers need to be expanded in the wake of the near collapse earlier this year of Bear Stearns, the giant Wall Street investment firm.

He said there was a need to consider quickly how to give the Fed the power it needs to obtain information from investment banks and the responsibility to intervene to protect the overall financial system. His comments were provided by the Treasury Department as excerpts from a speech Paulson was to give later in the day.