Coakley unveils plans for financial regulatory overhaul.

Fresh off her White House discussion on financial regulation, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley today unveiled her plan for "preventing another economic collapse."

The plan calls for stricter regulation of financial services, greater consumer protections, and loan modifications in order to "prevent the excessive and unscrupulous behavior" that led to the economic collapse.  A Coakley campaign release added that the plan provides for greater consumer protections, which will lead both to greater public confidence in the markets and to long-term fundamental soundness for our economy.

“I firmly believe that we cannot afford to wait to take action on these problems – the time for reform is now,” said Attorney General Coakley.  “Real economic recovery is dependent on our ability to regain the public’s confidence in the markets.  I am very proud of my office’s work to address the subprime crisis and its impact on the economy as a whole here in Massachusetts; and, in Washington, I will continue to protect consumers at the federal level.”

Coakley's suggestions include:

• Focusing on the safety and soundness of the market as a whole, not simply individual entities, by requiring institutions to maintain sufficient capital to keep them safe in times of system-wide stress;
• Fighting for stricter regulations for securitization by imposing robust reporting requirements on the issuers of asset-backed securities, reducing investors’ and regulators’ reliance on credit-rating agencies, and requiring the originator of securitization to retain a financial interest in its performance;
• Supporting the creation of the new Federal Consumer Protection Agency which will focus on providing support to consumers while allowing the states to work with the Federal Government to prevent unfair and deceptive tactics by banks and credit card companies;
• Providing the federal government with the necessary tools to contain and manage a future financial crisis by allowing Treasury to appoint the FDIC or Securities and Exchange Commission as a receiver for any large financial holding company that poses a threat to financial stability; and,
• Opposing federal preemption of state regulation that would restrict states’ abilities to prevent and remedy misconduct by financial institutions.

For voters, this is the part of the campaign that should really count - the part where the candidates are starting to roll out specific campaign proposals that offer insight into how they would approach issues in the Senate. Financial regulation is not the most media friendly issue - but it's one of incredible importance, especially in light of last year's meltdown.

Kudos to camp Coakley for getting specific proposals out there on an issue that will be up for debate in Congress over the next few weeks.

UPDATE: The full 10 page position paper can be viewed here.