Washington, D.C., January 20, 2015  – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement today regarding the President’s proposal to impose a tiny fee on the nation’s handful of largest banks:

“The President’s proposed fee on the largest banks’ liabilities is tiny, targeted and will not affect consumers, savings, lending, growth or jobs.  All this fee would do is make the handful of biggest banks bear some of the costs of their high-risk funding so that American families don’t have to pay after the next crash in bailouts, lost jobs, vanished savings, foreclosed homes, postponed retirements, costlier college educations and so much more.”

“There are almost 7,000 banks in the U.S. and this fee would only apply to a few of the nation’s biggest too-big-to-fail banks.  It is also itty-bitty: 7 one hundredths of 1%.  And, it only applies to those few banks’ liabilities, which are the source of greatest risk to taxpayers.  By being so small and so targeted, the fee will make the financial system safer and more stable, reducing the risk of another crash and bailouts, which will benefit all Americans.”

“Banks increase fees on their customers all the time, often claiming that those customers are high risk.  All the President is doing is proposing making the biggest banks pay a very small fee for their very high risk funding.”

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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.