In 2008, in the midst of a financial crisis, federal regulators extended bank deposit guarantees beyond the statutory $250,000 limit to cover all “transaction,” or checking, deposits. Later codified by Congress, the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program is due to expire on December 31, 2012. Congress is considering a two-year extension. It should not do so. TAG…
By now, it should be clear even to casual observers that the Volcker Rule, which was intended to limit the “risky” activities of banks by banning them from certain types of transactions, will be nearly impossible to implement without severe unintended damage to the U.S. financial system and many other types of businesses both here in the U.S. and overseas. Even…
Supporters of the Dodd financial regulatory bill list as one of its key virtues that it “solves” the problem of financial institutions that are seen as being “too big to fail.” Unfortunately, this is not the case. While the bill passed by the Senate Banking Committee includes a faulty mechanism for closing financial institutions whose failure could damage the entire…
The Senate is expected to take up a proposal, originally authored by Senator Chris Dodd (D–CT), to reform the financial regulatory system in the U.S. The goal is clear: to minimize the chances that another financial crisis—and bailouts—will arise again. The objective is a good one. Unfortunately, the 1,408-page bill includes numerous provisions that would hurt—not…
There are many valid reasons to be angry with bankers, and supporters of Senator Chris Dodd's (D-CT) latest rewrite of his financial regulatory bill, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act, have mentioned them all. Americans have heard all about greedy bankers, huge bonuses, shady accounting practices, and outright greed. But the reason for this rhetoric…
This Saturday, tens of thousands of Americans marched on Washington to protest the unprecedented amount of power being...…
The economic rescue package that the House will vote on tomorrow provides federal regulators with a broader array of...…
Two stories in The New York Times today demonstrate why the increase in the level of deposits the FDIC can guarantee...…
It appears that the Senate is already on the road to improving the financial rescue package that the House of...…
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chair Sheila Bair gave a curious interview to US News & World Report this week....…