Former Sen. Paul Sarbanes, co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, said on Friday that investment banks and hedge funds needed tighter regulation amid the global subprime crisis. Sarbanes said a recent move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to rescue Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns had to be accompanied by stricter controls of a sector that has racked up billions in losses from the credit crunch. "I don't think you can set access to the Fed in this unprecedented manner without more oversight from the Fed and other agencies," said Sarbanes, speaking after an Institutional Investor Educational Foundation conference in Paris. "It's not a free pass. I think they'll review the investment banks more closely than they have in the past."