Mr Obama speaks during a news conference where he introduced Mary Schapiro (left) as his choice to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler (second from right) to head the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and Dan Tarullo (right) to lead the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
CHICAGO - PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama on Thursday named three veteran regulators to round out his economic team and vowed to revamp regulatory rules to prevent a repeat of the financial and economic debacles the country is suffering through.
WASHINGTON - THE newly designated top US markets watchdog faces a difficult task in restoring confidence in an agency blamed for colossal mistakes in the economic meltdown and a massive Wall Street scandal.
President-elect Barack Obama's selection of Ms Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) comes at a time when the financial market regulator is in desperate need of rebuilding its reputation, analysts said.
US PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama has picked his labour secretary and US trade representative, sources said on Thursday, filling two of the remaining top jobs in the administration that takes office on Jan 20.
Here are people Mr Obama has chosen for key posts. Many remain subject to vetting and Senate confirmation.
His announcement came as he lays the groundwork for a giant economic stimulus package, possibly $850 billion (S$1.22 trillion) over two years, aimed at reviving the flagging economy. It would rival drastic government actions taken to fight the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Mr Obama blamed regulators for the financial debacle, saying they 'dropped the ball'.
Regulators, he said, 'have been asleep at the switch'.
American people, watching their investments tank, are frustrated that 'there's not a lot of adult supervision out there,' Mr Obama added.
At a Chicago news conference, Mr Obama named Mary Schapiro to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Daniel Tarullo to fill an empty Federal Reserve seat.
All three will need to be confirmed by the Senate next year.
In announcing the appointments, Mr Obama mentioned disgraced Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff, saying that the latest investment scandal 'has reminded us yet again of how badly reform is needed'.
The president-elect said his new team will help put in place new rules that will help 'crack down on the culture of greed and scheming'.
If confirmed by the Senate:
- Ms Schapiro, who served as an SEC commissioner in Republican and Democratic administrations and is currently the head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, would take over an agency that faces growing criticism for its failure to protect investors and detect trouble brewing on Wall Street.
The SEC stands at what could be one of the most difficult times in its history, buffeted by criticism for failing to detect signs that major Wall Street banks were in trouble before the financial crisis erupted and for lax oversight and enforcement in other areas.
As the scandal involving Madoff continues to stun the financial world, revelations have surfaced that staff at the SEC repeatedly failed over the course of a decade to fully investigate credible allegations against him.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on Tuesday ordered the agency's inspector general to investigate what went wrong.
- Mr Gensler, a former Treasury official in the Clinton administration, would lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is an independent agency created by Congress to regulate trading in the commodity futures and option markets.
- Prof Tarullo, a Georgetown law professor who also worked for President Bill Clinton, would fill an open seat on the Federal Reserve board in Washington.
His selection would allow Mr Obama to begin to put his imprint on the Federal Reserve.
All the present board members, including chairman Ben Bernanke, were hand picked by Bush. Prof Tarullo would fill one of two vacant seats on the seven-member board. A third seat - now held by Fed governor Randall Kroszner - also will become available.
As a member of the Fed board, Prof Tarullo would have an important voice in deciding policy to help jolt the economy back to life.
He would vote on decisions about interest rates as well as ways to help break through the credit clog. He would also have a hand in shaping new regulations.
Separately on Thursday, a labour official said Mr Obama will nominate the lone member of Congress of Central American descent as labor secretary. Rep Hilda Solis of California is the daughter of a Mexican union shop steward and a Nicaraguan assembly line worker.
She is in line to be the second Hispanic in Mr Obama's Cabinet.
Unions, which contributed heavily to Mr Obama and Democrats this year, expect Solis to be an advocate for them and for workers.
Mr Obama planned to announce her nomination on Friday, said a labor official who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made yet.
Mr Obama also intends to name a former mayor of Dallas as US trade representative, a Democrat official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because Mr Obama has not made the selection public. Ron Kirk was the first black person to become mayor of the Texas city.
Democratic officials have said that Mr Obama will nominate Republican Rep Ray LaHood of Illinois as transportation secretary.
The president-elect's moves come amid incredible economic strife.
The unemployment rate is at 6.7 per cent, a 15-year high. The US economy has lost nearly 2 million jobs since the recession started last December, and the recession is on track to be the longest since the Great Depression. Stock markets are sinking, the housing market is in disarray, and credit is hard to get.
Mr Obama's economic advisers have been assembling a recovery plan and reaching out to members of Congress and their staffs.
While some economists consulted by Mr Obama's team recommended spending of up to $1 trillion over two years to jolt the worsening economy, a more likely figure seems to be $850 billion.
Obama aides cautioned that they have not settled on a specific grand total.
Mr Obama is promoting a recovery plan that would feature spending on roads and other infrastructure projects, making government buildings energy-efficient, building and renovating schools and adopting environmentally friendly technologies.
There also would be some form of tax relief, according to the Obama team, which is aware of the political difficulty of pushing such a large package through Congress, even in a time of recession.
Any tax cuts would be aimed at middle- and lower-income taxpayers, and aides have said there would be no tax increases for wealthy Americans.
Mr Obama introduced his latest selections at a news conference in Chicago. It's his fourth this week as he seeks to finalize much, if not all, of his Cabinet and other key positions before heading to Hawaii for a holiday vacation. -- AP
