This is a phrase it appears we will be hearing a lot in the coming months. In the largest proposed overhaul of financial regulation since the 1930s, President Obama and his team have proposed an 88-page restructuring that does not address the financial markets (they’ve decided to leave that to regulatory changes rather than major change in approach) but does address how banks, major financial institutions and hedge funds will be overseen.

It seems to be the feeling of Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner and the Administration that the credit crisis which started in 2007 might have been prevented or the damage restricted if there had been better powers to regulate the large banks and brokerage firms. The proposal, still being reviewed, gives the Federal Reserve much more power to oversee institutions. Given that a number of the governors of the Fed are selected by the very banks being regulated, and the criticism leveled against their preparation for and response to the crisis, one wonders if this is where the new powers should lie, but that is the suggestion.

In addition, according to Marketwatch, an “eight-member, multi-agency financial services oversight council that would seek to identify potential risks with large financial institutions and problematic investment products.” It is not clear if that means they will oversee broker-dealers that are otherwise regulated by the SEC, and whether this means there will still be overlapping regulation that supposedly this process is supposed to streamline. The key is giving the new board power to take action where “systemically significant” companies are failing, similar to the powers currently in the hands of the FDIC with regard to savings and loans.

As more details emerge we can talk more about this. Obama introduced the plan with soaring rhetoric, noting,  “I have always been a strong believer in the power of the free market. I believe that our role is not to disparage wealth, but to expand its reach; not to stifle the market, but to strengthen its ability to unleash the creativity and innovation that still make this nation the envy of the world.” Let’s hope the rhetoric matches the fine print.