Thursday, July 29, 2010

Will New FinReg Hiring Quotas Further Damage Business Prospects?

By Tim Connolly

Once again, we find details in FinReg that are absolutely impossible to understand, quantify, or even predict the MASSIVE expansion of federal intrusion into business by the Obama Administration and the Democrat controlled Congress. The 1,261 word Section 342 may be one of the most expensive and damaging provisions for any finance related businesses, on Wall Street or not:

The section establishes at least 20 new Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion across the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission and other finance-related agencies. It orders the directors of these offices to develop standards that "ensure, to the maximum extent possible, the fair inclusion and utilization of minorities, women, and minority-owned and women-owned businesses in all business and activities of the agency at all levels, including in procurement, insurance, and all types of contracts."

The legislation states that this applies to “services of any kind,” including investment firms, mortgage banking firms, asset management firms, brokers, dealers, underwriters, accountants, consultants and law firms. Every contractor and subcontractor must now certify that their workforces reflect a “fair inclusion” of women and minorities.

Who will decide if your firm’s services have a “fair inclusion” of minorities and women? How exactly are we, as businesses in a free market based, capitalist economy, supposed to make long-term planning decisions on investments and expansion when the government continues to make these power grabs throughout the economy? [more...]

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