Number: RL34672
Title: Auction-Rate Securities
Authors: D. Andrew Austin, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: In the past, Congress has expressed concern about policy areas that the ARS market's collapse has affected. For example, the House Financial Services Committee held a March 2008 hearing to examine how financial market developments may have increased interest and other financing costs of state and local governments. In April 2008, Congress passed the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 (H.R. 5715, P.L. 110-227) to allow the Secretary of Education to provide capital to student lenders, whose ability to borrow in some cases had been constricted by ARS failures. More generally, many Members of Congress have stepped up oversight of financial markets and have shown interest in reconsidering the structure of federal financial regulation.
Pages: 29
Date: September 17, 2008