WASHINGTON, D.C.— Shayna Olesiuk, Director of Banking Policy, issued the following statement in connection with the release of a Fact Sheet titled “Capital Rule Critics Proved Wrong by Facts and Data.”
“Wall Street’s biggest banks and their supporters have staged a widespread resistance effort in recent months to convince the American people, community organizations, and financial regulators that modestly higher capital requirements (called the “Basel Endgame”) will have far-reaching dire consequences. Along with lobbying, media campaigns, television advertising, billboards, and websites, those capital critics have used seemingly limitless resources to fill the public comment file with letters opposing the Basel Endgame. By count, the comment letters opposing the Basel Endgame certainly outnumber those in favor of it. However, a bunch of banks and their allies saying similar things many times doesn’t make them accurate and quantity isn’t a substitute for merit.
“Furthermore, many of the industry’s anti-capital claims lack a valid basis or are disproven by research and data. The Basel Endgame will actually promote financial stability and resilience, will increase lending to American businesses and families, and provide increased transparency in our financial system. Alternatively, the industry’s unsupported arguments and fearmongering, if successful, will shift the burden of bank failures to taxpayers and Main Street Americans, while Wall Street’s biggest banks are allowed to continue to reap higher profits without being held accountable for the risk they undertake to generate those profits.”
Read the Fact Sheet here.
###
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.org.
