Our latest Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, has been a quick study. That is, he knows who to skillfully craft phrases for the media. In a speech today, he talked about overregulation in the financial system – saying we are in "danger of creating a thicket of regulation that impedes competitiveness."

But, hey, he should know. Before this, he ran the venerable Goldman Sachs.

Paulson talked about our arcane system – which often has overlapping jurisdictions. Of course, there is also the big issue of Sarbanes-Oxley, which is particularly scary for public-company CEOs.

However, in light of the power shift in Congress, it is not likely that securities regulations will get much play. Besides, it is probably going to be contentious, anyway.

So, don't expect too much – except more mega going-private transactions and Paulson's Wall Street brethren to continue to get rich from the process.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.

With former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson almost confirmed as the new Secretary of the Treasury for the U.S. Government, sentiment on his confirmation seems to be on tap for passage soon. Paulson would replace outgoing Treasury Secretary John Snow, as he was nominated by President Bush recently for the position based on his immense financial expertise and history in the financial community.

With U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist pretty confident that Paulson will be confirmed before the July 4th holiday a week from today, Paulson is easing fears by divesting himself of some Goldman holdings as well as selling some interest in a Chinese bank. As of this afternoon, a top Frist aide is saying that Paulson will likely be confirmed this week, so as soon as it happens, look for an update right here at BloggingStocks.com.

Update, 6-28-06, 4:25pm CST -- Henry Paulson has completed confirmation by the U.S. Senate this afternoon by a seemingly-too-easy vote. Paulson faced virtually no opposition was will succedd outgoing Secretary of the Treasury John Snow. Paulson stated right after his confirmation that raising taxes "would be a big mistake". Click here to see an update on this story at cnn.com.