Washington, D.C. – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued this statement on legislation being considered in the House of Representatives that would leave U.S. taxpayers on the hook for Wall Street’s dangerous overseas gambling:

“This is the latest in a long line of Wall Street deregulation bills that benefit the handful of too-big-to-fail-banks at the expense of the American people. This legislation would prevent the CFTC watchdogs from doing their job and would unleash Wall Street’s dangerous overseas derivatives gambling, which we saw blow up with AIG in 2008. The American people would bear the risks and Wall Street would get the rewards, just as they did in the last December in the Cromnibus that repealed key financial reforms. Congress should be fully funding the CFTC, defending financial safeguards, and protecting taxpayers, not voting for another bill that gives more special interest loopholes to Wall Street.”

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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.