Survey shows almost half of U.S. consumers want the government out of the financial services sector

Despite a blizzard of recent legislation aimed at curbing recent excesses in the industry and help people consolidate debt, just under 50 percent of American consumers surveyed by research firm GfK say that they want the government to leave the financial services sector alone.

GfK financial services managing director Douglas Cottings said that "Americans are growing weary and earning back their trust in Wall Street and Washington is still a major sticking point. To help turn the tide, it’s critical for financial companies to refocus their time and resources on first repairing the damage to their reputation in order to win back consumer confidence."

The numbers of Americans who wanted less governmental and regulatory involvement in the financial services sector was relatively uniform across demographics, and even seemed to transcend political boundaries, with liberal areas like the West Coast posting statistics comparable to more conservative regions like the Midwest.

Experts speculate that these public opinion numbers could change as a number of delayed provisions in the Credit CARD Act begin to take effect.