“US senators Sherrod Brown and David Vitter have renewed their push to impose higher capital standards on large banks, hoping new government reports into banks will reignite momentum.”
“The Brown-Vitter bill, which would impose a tougher equity capital ratio of 15 per cent on the biggest banks, received a lot of attention when it was introduced nine months ago. But momentum waned and the bill languished, partly in response to an intense lobbying effort by the biggest banks.”
“Mr Brown, a Democrat, and Mr Vitter, a Republican who said on Tuesday he will run for Louisiana governor in 2015, are once again going on the offensive. They are holding hearings on “too big to fail” banks, issuing press releases and writing letters to US regulators.”
“The senators are preparing for the publication of a Government Accountability Office report due out this spring, which they commissioned and which they hope will provide more ammunition for their efforts. The report will assess whether the largest banks have lending advantages or receive other biased treatment because of the expectation that the government will not allow them to fail.”
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Read full Financial Times article here.
