The CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity is urging government leaders and regulators not to jump the gun on new rules to deal with the subprime mortgage mess.

Before any new regulations are put into place, participants need to “carefully consider the complex series of events, both in the United States and abroad, that led to this crisis,” the CFA Centre said in a release today.

According to the Centre, it wants to avoid “an uncoordinated rush of multiple agencies and Congress putting together a further clutter of provisions to deal with subprime, whose costs and impacts are not fully considered or integrated.” And to this end, it said, it’s important to remember the long-term regulatory objective of restructuring the current system, which it calls “inefficient” and “duplicative.” Short-term, uncoordinated reactions to the subprime situation would only further complicate an already cluttered system, the Centre contends.

“We are confused by the many regulatory comments about reform that are flying around the sub prime debate,” said Kurt Schacht, managing director of the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity. “Clearly, any reforms needed to address subprime and prevent a reoccurrence are important. In the heat of the subprime crisis, signals seem to be coming from all different directions on what regulation is needed and who should oversee such changes. Let’s not confuse this activity with the discussions that pre-date subprime on how to make our markets and regulatory structure more efficient and competitive.”

“Ultimately, we should work for a unified regulatory structure that protects investors while fostering market innovation and competitive position. Creating the architecture for this long-term, regulatory position within global markets is daunting but overdue,” he concluded.