Their rules can be overturned by another body of the government, the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House

The office will feed information to the Financial Stability Oversight Council and for now is housed in Treasury.

FORBES: Treasury Taps Morgan Stanley Veteran As Counselor To Geithner

If confirmed, Mr. Lew will chair the Financial Stability Oversight Council, responsible for identifying and addressing "systemic risks" to the financial system.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: Treasury Gets a Citibanker

The Dodd-Frank Act established a Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), chaired by the secretary of the Treasury, in order to identify systemically important institutions.

FORBES: Money Market Fund Reforms Remains Elusive

To curb risks to the financial system, Mr Dodd would create a Financial Stability Oversight Council composed of regulatory chiefs who can designate any big financial firm as systemically important.

ECONOMIST: The Senate bill is finally published

America's Financial Stability Oversight Council, whose first meeting was due to be held this week, has some very basic questions to answer about what constitutes a systemically important firm, for example.

ECONOMIST: Financial regulators

Among other things, it sets up a Financial Stability Oversight Council to oversee systemic risk in the economy, creates an independent consumer financial protection bureau housed within the Federal Reserve and establishes exchanges for the trading of over-the-counter derivatives.

FORBES: Sheila Bair: Now the Real Work on Financial Reg Reform Begins