NASDAQ OMX backs Paulson rules blueprint

NEW YORK (Reuters) - NASDAQ OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday the transatlantic electronic financial exchange backs the brand of flexible, streamlined regulation endorsed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Magnus Bocker, president of the recently formed stock exchange, told the Reuters Exchanges and Trading Summit that he supported Paulson's approach despite criticism that regulators failed to stem the recent credit contraction.

"I think the Paulson blueprint is a very good example of (something) that really tells what needs to be done," Bocker said. "I'm a strong believer in principal-based regulation, and to make each and every one responsible in a different way."

In March, Paulson proposed to consolidate the patchwork of financial regulators under three agencies: the U.S. Federal Reserve, a new financial regulator, and a consumer-protection agency.

Bocker applauded that blueprint and U.S. efforts prior to the recent credit crisis that pushed for deregulation of the financial service sector.

Regulators have come under fire as banks and other financial institutions have taken write-downs related to their exposure to bad mortgage loans, shaking global equity markets and edging the U.S. economy toward a recession.

The crisis was dramatized by the collapse and fire sale of investment bank Bear Stearns Cos Inc (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in the last few months.

Bocker said much of the regulatory criticism has come from politicians and the media. Principal-based regulation -- which is more flexible and less prescriptive -- would result in smaller financial crises, he said.

"We need to be more competitive from a U.S. perspective," he said.