The Bush administration on Monday introduced the broadest overhaul of Wall Street regulation since the Great Depression, presenting a 218-page proposal that would, for the first time, create a set of federal regulators with authority over all players in the financial system.

The plan is unlikely to be put in place anytime soon, and in presenting the blueprint, Henry M. Paulson Jr., the secretary of the Treasury, insisted the changes were intended to address long-term problems with the way Washington oversees financial markets, rather than a quick fix for the current crisis reports the New York Times.

“Some may view these recommendations as a response to the circumstances of the day,” Mr. Paulson said at the Cash Room of the Treasury building in Washington. “That is not how they are intended.”

Still, elements of the plan — including a proposal to expand the authority of the Federal Reserve to examine investment banks and other financial institutions that have previously roamed free of federal oversight — clearly speak to the recent tumult on Wall Street that has hurt the economy. And President Bush, through his spokeswoman, urged Congress to quickly approve the proposed changes.

“Secretary Paulson has been working on this package for about a year, so it’s not like pulling a rabbit out of a hat,” Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One on Monday.

Democratic leaders are already drafting bills to impose tougher supervision over Wall Street, and some say that Mr. Paulson’s plan does not go far enough in reining in risky practices among banks.

The administration’s proposal will do almost nothing to regulate the alphabet soup of sophisticated financial products that have fueled the current financial crisis. And it will not rein in practices that have been linked to the mortgage crisis, like packaging risky loans into securities carrying the highest ratings.

Read it here: Treasury Rolls Out Overhaul of Financial Regulators