FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 17, 2020
Contact: Christopher Elliott, 202-618-6433
press@bettermarkets.com
Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement in response to a speech by the Vice Chairman for Supervision for the Federal Reserve, Randal Quarles:
“The Vice Chairman for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Board (the “Fed”), gave a speech today proposing some dramatic weakening of the way the Fed supervises the largest, most dangerous and most systemically significant banks in the country. He did this without mentioning the horrific 2008 financial crash or its consequences which inflicted widespread damage across this country to tens of millions of Americans and which continues to cause economic pain as well as social-political upheaval.
“Even worse, he failed to acknowledge much less discuss or review the widespread failures of the Fed’s regulatory and supervisory practices before that crash, which materially contributed to if not caused that crash. The creation of the position of the Vice Chairman for Supervision in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act was created to ensure that those indefensible failures never happen again. None of that was mentioned in the speech.
“Instead, virtually all of the proposed changes would weaken the Fed’s supervision of the country’s banks and come straight off the wish list of Wall Street’s biggest banks. Any claim that these changes are merely “incremental” is inaccurate. Worse, the suggested changes would subordinate what is best for the public to what the biggest banks want. After all the damage and harm to so many Americans and our country just a few short years ago, the public deserves better.”
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.
