FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nov. 25, 2020

CONTACT:
Carter Dougherty
carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org
(202) 251-6700

Yellen Nomination Creates Potential for Ambitious Financial Reform Agenda

Statement from Americans for Financial Reform:

We look forward to the opportunity to work with Janet Yellen, President-Elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be the next Treasury Secretary.

The Treasury Secretary has the authority to drive an ambitious agenda for economic, racial, and climate justice, and to use financial regulation as an important tool of that work. As Yellen has herself noted in recent remarks, this moment of crisis has made it particularly clear that a new administration needs to not only undo the dangerous Trump administration deregulation of Wall Street, but also move well beyond the preceding status quo. We need a system of financial regulation that does a better job shaping a sustainable economy for working people of every race and region.

In the past, from within the government and without, Yellen has raised important alarms about developments on Wall Street, such as excessive leveraged lending, that turned out to be prescient. And as far back as 2007, she observed the runaway growth of private equity as a force within the U.S. economy. Yellen has also expressed strong support for the Community Reinvestment Act’s goal of equitable growth. More recently, she has highlighted the need for stronger regulation of non-banks and hedge funds, and added, “I personally think we need a new Dodd-Frank Act.”

We urge President-elect Biden to nominate a team of senior Treasury Department officials, and financial regulators who share a commitment to using financial policy as a tool for justice and equality, and a willingness to take on powerful Wall Street interests when necessary.

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