WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President, and CEO of Better Markets issued the following statement regarding the recent reporting on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
“The reports about sexual misconduct and harassment at the FDIC are horrific. There must be a full, thorough investigation of those reports, and anyone engaged in such conduct should face the severest penalties as fast as possible.
“That investigation must also be unbiased. That means that the Republican members of the FDIC Board must not be involved in any such investigation. They have a direct conflict of interest because the Vice Chair becomes Chair in the absence of a Chair. Given some are already calling for the removal of the Chair, this is a possible result of the investigation. For the investigation to be unbiased and credible, these Board members must recuse themselves from any participation in any investigation.
“Those FDIC members also have a conflict of interest due to disagreements over highly consequential pending policy actions. The reporting on these matters coincided with Congressional hearings at which the banking regulators were questioned about increasing capital, which Wall Street’s biggest banks are sparing no expense to kill. One way to kill the capital rule is to take out the Democratic FDIC Chair who supports the capital rule and replace him with a Republican Vice Chair who is already on record as opposing an increase in capital. This would result in the FDIC Board being deadlocked at two-two.
“These are very serious issues that require a full, fair, unbiased, and credible investigation untainted by politics or policy conflicts. The right thing to do is to get all the facts as fast as possible and then let those facts determine the appropriate course of action.”
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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.org.
