WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO for Better Markets, issued the following statement in connection with President Trump’s announcement of Kevin Warsh to be his nominee to be the next Chair of the Federal Reserve:

“Every American with a credit or debit card, savings or checking account, mortgage or loan of any type depends upon an independent Fed that makes data-driven decisions, not one who jumps to the political dictates of whoever happens to be president. That’s why Trump’s Fed chair pick, Kevin Warsh, should follow the facts and data and not politicize the Fed by taking instructions from President Trump. That will only make the affordability crisis in America worse and kill the American dream for even more Americans. The Fed has been the global gold standard of central banks because it has been non-political and driven by facts and data, not passing political desires.

“Warsh may be Trump‘s nominee, and it may be difficult, but he simply must disregard Trump’s repeated, escalating, and increasingly unhinged attacks on the Fed, which will undoubtedly continue and get worse as Trump panics about the upcoming midterm elections. The Fed must apply data and facts, not political pressure, to its decision-making. Republicans, Democrats, financial markets, and corporations have resisted politicizing the Fed because they know the consequences: politically driven monetary policy decisions will ignite runaway inflation and drive rates much higher for everything from mortgages and credit cards to large and small business loans. This would be a disaster for our economy, especially Main Street Americans who already can’t afford the price increases caused by Trump’s policies.

“An equally important and often overlooked responsibility of the Fed is to properly supervise and regulate the country’s biggest and most dangerous banks. Here independence in policymaking is critical to preventing bank collapses, taxpayer bailouts, and catastrophic economic damage. As the Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack said in 2009 after his bank failed, ‘Regulators have to be much more involved. We [meaning Wall Street’s biggest banks] cannot control ourselves.’ Only the Fed can stop Wall Street’s biggest banks from engaging in high-risk behavior, causing financial crashes, and demanding taxpayer bailout, as they did in 2008.

“Kevin Warsh must not let the Fed repeat these mistakes, as it is currently doing. It is by choice failing at its supervision and regulation responsibilities under the lead of the current Vice Chair for Supervision whose broad-based deregulatory policies for large banks are taken directly from Wall Street’s wish list. The next Fed Chair must reassert independence in bank supervision and regulation to bolster the safety and soundness of the banking system and ensure large banks shift their focus away from high-risk financial markets and back towards supporting the real economy on Main Street.”