U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said that lessons from the current financial crisis may lead to the Fed taking a greater role in preserving financial system stability.

Speaking to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Forum on Mortgage Lending for Low and Moderate Income Households in Arlington, Va. today, Bernanke noted that the recent turmoil in financial markets is already having important consequences for U.S. regulatory policy.

For example, next week, the Fed will issue new rules on mortgage lending. It has already issued proposals to improve credit card disclosures and to address a number of unfair or deceptive acts and practices in credit card lending. And Bernanke said it is considering ways to improve financial stability.

“We are currently monitoring developments in financial markets closely and considering several options, including extending the duration of our [special lending] facilities for primary dealers beyond year-end, should the current unusual and exigent circumstances continue to prevail in dealer funding markets,” he said. “At the same time, we are taking measures that will serve over time to strengthen the primary dealers, other financial institutions, and the overall financial system.”

These measures include working with the Securities an Exchange Commission and the primary dealers to increase the firms’ capital and liquidity buffers and cooperating with other regulators and the private sector to help make the financial infrastructure more resilient, he explained.

Bernanke noted that these actions are taking place within the current legislative framework, but that in the longer term, “legislation may be needed to provide a more robust framework for the prudential supervision of investment banks and other large securities dealers.”

Under current arrangements, he said, the SEC’s oversight of the holding companies of the major investment banks is based on a voluntary agreement between the SEC and those firms. “Strong holding company oversight is essential and thus, in my view, the Congress should consider requiring consolidated supervision of those firms, providing the regulator the authority to set standards for capital, liquidity holdings, and risk management,” he said.

“More generally, in the longer term, the Congress should consider whether our current regulatory structure needs to be modernized to address the changes that have occurred in the structure of the financial system, including the enormous growth of nonbank financial institutions and the development of new financial products,” he added.

Bernanke also suggested that over time, a stronger financial system may require changes in the way borrowers and lenders use over-the-counter derivatives markets, as well as in the settlement infrastructure operated by the clearing banks. “Given how important robust payment and settlement systems are to financial stability, a strong case can be made for granting the Federal Reserve explicit oversight authority for systemically important payment and settlement systems,” he argued.

“As part of its review of how best to increase financial stability, and as has been suggested by [Treasury] Secretary [Henry] Paulson, the Congress may wish to consider whether new tools are needed for ensuring an orderly liquidation of a systemically important securities firm that is on the verge of bankruptcy, together with a more formal process for deciding when to use those tools,” Bernanke added.

He noted that it has been suggested that one way to reduce the incidence and severity of financial crises would be to give the job of promoting the overall stability of financial markets to the Fed. However, he said, “I do not think that the Fed could fully meet these objectives without the authority to directly examine banks and other financial institutions that are subject to prudential regulation.”

Moreover, it would have to made explicit that the Fed would not backstop any firm that ran into financial trouble, as it did with Bear Stearns, he said. “If the Federal Reserve’s formal mandate were broadened to encompass financial stability, it would be particularly important to make clear that any government intervention to avoid the disorderly liquidation of firms on the verge of bankruptcy should use clearly defined tools and processes,” Bernanke stressed.

“Financial crises have occurred periodically around the world for literally hundreds of years, and it is unrealistic to hope that they can be entirely eliminated, especially while maintaining a dynamic and innovative financial system,” he concluded. “Nonetheless, recent experience has illustrated once again that financial instability can have serious economic costs. The Federal Reserve will continue its efforts to make our financial system stronger and more resilient, so that it can continue to play its necessary role of supporting economic growth and making credit available to all qualified borrowers.”