At the behest of a bank lobby that pumps billions into the political system, Congress in 2018 relaxed laws on mid-sized banks like Silicon Valley Bank, at a time when regulators appointed by former President Trump were already eager to go easier on banks. The signal could not have been clearer, and AFR warned so at the time.
As the Federal Reserve prepares new capital rules for American banks, Wall Street is rolling out its misdirection and bad arguments – as it has for much of the past decade – about why they should not be required to steel themselves against a crisis or downturn. And once again, regulators and Congress must be prepared to ignore their histrionics and strengthen capital requirements.
The gravity of what will be a landmark Supreme Court case involving the funding of independent agencies has become increasingly apparent to observers of the judiciary. Numerous media reports have highlighted how the case, aimed at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, threatens to upend the funding for many federal agencies, above all the Federal Reserve.
House Republicans rang in the New Year with a craven attempt to pander to their corporate cronies, making the 118th Congress’ very first vote one to defund the IRS and protect tax evaders. This comes after the agency finally received much-needed funding in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act after years of being under-resourced.
A corporate tax break that could give some of Wall Street’s wealthiest people a $200 billion gift over ten years is under consideration as part of the omnibus budget negotiations underway in Congress this month. At issue are provisions of the 2017 Trump tax bill that took effect this year, and the private equity’s lobbying effort to overturn the parts of the law that limit a key tax break.
This week, the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee are each holding hearings to discuss the fallout from the collapse of the major crypto exchange FTX: what happened, why, and what should be done about it. There is a real opportunity here for Congress to reset crypto policy discussions and focus on first principles. To do that, Congress should keep the following points in mind:
Today, the Department of Labor (DOL) helped safeguard the savings of millions of workers who participate in private-sector employee benefit plans by finalizing a rule related to the consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.
Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity owner of Albertsons grocery stores, is quickly moving to extract an unusually large amount of money from the grocer that would leave Albertsons in a much worse position to repay the massive debt load put on by its private equity owners. This move puts many of Albertsons’ workers and their pensions at risk.
Ask a reasonable person if discrimination on the basis of race or religion is unfair. The odds are good – very good, according to this AFR poll, – that you’ll get a resounding “yes,” a polite “of course,” or even an incredulous “are you kidding?” Yes. Discrimination. Is. Unfair. But if you try to convince big-bank lobbyists that discrimination is unfair, you won’t get a “yes.” You get a lawsuit, with multiple awful lines of attack, that stands a good chance of succeeding. And that’s not satire.
Two SEC proposals have billionaire activist hedge funds up in arms and pulling out all the stops—including falsely claiming organized labor is opposed to the important proposals. Industry opponents will showcase their disdain at an upcoming Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) meeting scheduled for Sept. 21.