Merkley denounces Trump rollback of Wall Street reform
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who co-authored the Volcker Rule with former Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., released the following statement Tuesday after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation voted to pass a new rulemaking he said is designed to gut the Volcker Rule, with other Trump administration financial regulators expected to follow suit soon.
Merkley said the Volcker Rule, a landmark provision of the 2010 financial reform law, shut down the ” Wall Street casino ” in which banks made huge bets on future stock values, foreign exchange rates and interest rates. He said it is widely seen as one of the key provisions of that law to prevent a repeat of a 2008-style financial meltdown.
The senator said the change approved by the FDIC appears to create a massive loophole in which such bets could be hidden from regulators as so-called ” market making ” trades for customers:
” Every American should be worried that our regulators have been captured by the industry and are failing to protect the soundness of our banks and our economy.
” Let’s call it like it is: This is a massive giveaway to the biggest banks. This is a brazen attempt by big banks and their Trump-appointed allies to reopen the Wall Street casino, no matter the cost to working Americans who will lose their homes, jobs, and savings when the casino goes belly-up, ” Merkley said.
