FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 9, 2020
Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or prussell@bettermarkets.com
Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement in response to a story today that resulted from “numerous calls and emails from Wall Street’s biggest banks” and their “Washington lobbyists” pushing a bogus story that ignores the facts of today’s crisis and their irresponsible activities:
“While the head of one of Wall Street’s biggest Washington lobby groups, Greg Baer, and other Wall Street financiers may find it amusing, there is nothing funny about people being laid off due to the pandemic-caused economic crisis. His and his fellow-influence-peddling lobbyists’ million-dollar paychecks — boosted by cashing in on their revolving door ‘public service’ — may insulate him and his Wall Street paymasters from the catastrophic consequences of the pandemic, but that is not true for most Americans.
“Moreover, his shameless statement that his clients, the ‘nation’s largest banks,’ were ‘well capitalized’ going into this crisis is only true because he, his fellow lobbyists and Wall Street’s too-big-to-fail banks all failed to kill financial reform. For the good of the country, they lost and the Dodd-Frank law was passed ten years ago this month. That is the only reason those same grossly irresponsible Wall Street banks aren’t failing today: Dodd-Frank forced them to have more capital and be more resilient, as detailed in this recent Better Markets’ White Paper.
“One has to wonder why Wall Street’s biggest banks and their minions spend so much time and effort for so long to push baseless stories about a small nonprofit organization? As the article states, that’s because ‘Better Markets has become Wall Street’s leading antagonist in the regulatory arena.’ As an academic study concluded, Better Markets is an independent, powerful and very effective counterweight against Wall Street in the public arena and throughout the policymaking process since being founded ten years ago. They are also bitter and angry that they lost the fight against financial reform, which Better Markets’ aggressively champions. Finally, they hate being publicly opposed and called out for their shameless lobbying and dangerous, reckless and illegal activities, like those detailed in this lengthy RAP Sheet Report and the report on Goldman Sachs’ shocking 1MDB crimes, which should result in the most severe sanctions.
“Most of all they hate it when Better Markets points out that Greg Baer’s members, Wall Street’s biggest, most profitable too-big-to-fail, jail, regulate and manage banks, caused the 2008 financial crash and then gorged on $29 trillion in bailouts while paying themselves $20 billion more in bonuses for just 2009. Those Wall Street banks recklessly gambled with the country’s well-being solely to enrich themselves and caused a horrific recession, which resulted in 27 million Americans being thrown out of work, 11 million foreclosure filings, 40 percent of homes under water, and more than $20 trillion in lost GDP. The Dodd-Frank Act and financial reform was enacted to prevent them from doing that to the country again.
“As is clear to anyone not on Wall Street’s payroll, there is no similarity between Wall Street banks causing the 2008 crash and getting bailed out, and the CARES Act and PPP responding to the pandemic-caused economic crisis that has caused tens of millions of Americans to be laid off. To avoid imminent layoffs due to that economic crisis, Better Markets, a nonprofit small business, applied for and received a PPP loan in the amount of $188,510. Solely as result of that loan, Better Markets has not had any layoffs, maintained its payroll and fully complied with the terms of the loan. You can see why the Wall Street’s ‘deep-pocketed banks with legions of [high paid] lobbyists’ would have to resort to half-truths when pushing bogus stories about their most prominent and effective opponent.”
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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.com.
