The House of Representatives recently voted to roll back a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act that, as reporter Ailsa Chang explained on All Things Considered (NPR, 11/11/13), “prevents banks from using your deposits to trade in derivatives — risky securities that many believe contributed to
“’The House is the odd man out in terms of doing Wall Street’s bidding,” says AFR policy director Marcus Stanley. “They’re letting Wall Street write the law to its own benefit in ways that harm the public.”
The House vote to approve this legislation, largely written by Citibank lobbyists, reminds us that Wall Street is still doing everything in its power to protect the status quo that caused the financial crisis… The good news is that 122 House members voted No this time. What started out as a backroom deal between bank lobbyists and legislators wound up being an uncomfortable vote for the dealmakers. That makes it much less likely that the Senate will act, and more likely that the swaps push out provision will finally be implemented.
AFR Policy Director Marcus Stanley participates in debate on ‘Smaller, Simpler Banks’ with Rodgin Cohen (Chair of Sullivan and Cromwell), John Dugan (former Comptroller of the Currency), and Randall Kroszner (University of Chicago; former Governor on the Federal Reserve Board). The debate was sponsored by the International Institute of Finance. As the only public interest representative at the debate, Dr. Stanley defending the need for simplifying and shrinking big banks.
AFR wrote to the banking regulators to urge them to strengthen the new supplementary leverage ratio proposed for large U.S. banks.
This legislation would prevent the Department of Labor from addressing flaws in protections for retirement savings, protections that have not been updated for almost forty years. It would also delay efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise the standard of conduct that applies to brokers when they give advice to retail investors.
After the 2008 crisis, it became clear that regulators and many sophisticated market participants had been kept in the dark about major risks and exposures in our financial system. On October 11, 2013, AFR and Georgetown Law Center co-hosted this half-day conference on the progress made – and the work that remains to be done – toward meaningful transparency on Wall Street.
Overseas affiliates of U.S. banks played a major role in the final meltdown of 2008-2009, at a cost of millions of jobs and trillions of dollars. Financial institutions must not be allowed to escape oversight by “off-shoring” their riskiest deals.
AFR and its member organizations warn against a proposal that would “severely weaken” the independence measures called for by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. “A Board dominated by employees of major banks and dealers with subsidiaries active in the municipal market will not be a truly independent Board.”
The banks did not get everything they wanted, according to Forbes. But, in AFR’s words, their foreign subsidiaries “will still be permitted to escape Dodd-Frank jurisdiction… for an inappropriately broad range of transactions.”