Fed Could Be Sole Regulator for Financial Institutions, Says Sullivan Chair

Speaking at a conference today in New York on the outlook for mergers and acquisitions, a famed attorney dealmaker predicted that one result of the current economic crisis will be streamlined regulation for financial institutions.

H. Rodgin Cohen, the chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell, "said the crisis was likely to lead toward a single regulator, as there is an effort to ensure financial institutions that compete with regulated entities are also regulated," reports Reuters.

And that single regulator, he predicts, will be the Federal Reserve.

Cohen and other panelists also predicted that congressional lawmakers will need to up the ante on the $700 billion federal bailout legislation, saying that it would cost more than $1 trillion to put the U.S. financial system back on a solid economic basis.

Additional coverage:

The Daily Deal: "What will Wall Street look like in 2009 and beyond?"

Business Wire (press release): "The Deal's M&A Outlook 2009 Conference Brings Together Leading Acquirers to Debate the Future of the Market"

Updated at 11:20 a.m. Nov. 13 to correct the current proposed bailout amount.