Transcript

NEEL KASHKARI: We are in a unprecedented period and market events are moving rapidly and unpredictably. We, at Treasury, have responded quickly to adapt to events on the ground. Throughout the crisis, we have always acted with the following three critical objectives in mind: One, to stabilize financial markets and reduce systemic risk. Two, to support the housing market by avoiding preventable foreclosures and supporting mortgage finance, and, three, to protect the taxpayers. The authorities and flexibility granted to us by Congress have been essential to developing programs necessary to meet those objectives. Now, a program as large and complex as the TARP would normally take many months or even years to establish, but we did not have the luxury of first building the operation, then designing our programs, and then executing them. Given the severity of the financial crisis, we had to build the Office of Financial Stability, design our programs, and execute them all at the same time. We have made remarkable progress since the president signed the law only 97 days ago. Less than 100 days.

Today, I will brief you about five areas. First, I will give you an update on the execution of the programs Treasury has instituted under the TARP. Second, I will review the progress we have made in building the Office of Financial Stability. Third, I will provide you an update on our efforts to meet the highest standards of compliance and oversight. Fourth, I will review the thorough reporting requirements we continue to meet. And, finally, I will update you on some of the measurements we look at to judge if our programs are having the desired effect.

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