Washington, D.C. – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued this statement following an exchange during the Senate Banking Committee hearing this morning, where Federal Reserve Governor Tarullo questioned the accuracy of a chart entitled “Tailored Key Elements of Enhanced Prudential Regulation” from a Better Markets’ Fact Sheet:
“Governor Tarullo was wrong at today’s Senate Banking Committee hearing when he criticized a chart created by Better Markets. The $700 billion figure he questioned comes directly from the Federal Reserve own rules that were adopted on April 8, 2014, which placed an ‘enhanced supplementary leverage ratio’ on bank holding companies with consolidated assets ‘in excess of $700 billion.’ The ‘counterparty risk’ item Governor Tarullo said was missing is in fact covered by the ‘Capital’ item in the chart, which is the context in which it is referenced in the Fed’s own regulations. More importantly, the Fact Sheet identifies the chart as a list of ‘key elements’ not ‘all elements’ and provides other important context. As Comptroller Curry stated at the hearing, the chart is accurate.”
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Better Markets is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes the public interest in financial reform in the domestic and global capital and commodity markets. Better Markets advocates for transparency, oversight and accountability with the goal of a stronger, safer financial system that is less prone to crisis and failure thereby eliminating or minimizing the need for more taxpayer funded bailouts. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.