Warren Calls For Immediate Reversal of Trump Admin’s Proposal to Exempt 26 of the Largest 31 National Banks from Key Safeguards

Warren Calls For Immediate Reversal of Trump Admin's Proposal to Exempt 26 of the Largest 31 National Banks from Key Safeguards

"This proposal is yet another example of the OCC's doing the bidding of big banks at the expense of American taxpayers and our financial system."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Comptroller of the Currency, Jonathan Gould, urging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to withdraw the proposed rule to exempt 26 of the 31 largest national banks from the protective regulation requirements implemented in the wake of the catastrophic 2008 financial crisis.

"This proposal, coupled with the agency's suite of other deregulatory actions, would increase big bank executive bonuses and shareholder payouts, while setting the stage for catastrophic big bank failures and taxpayer bailouts," wrote the Senator.

"But under your leadership, the OCC has proposed rolling back these safeguards by increasing the asset threshold at which they apply to banks from $50 billion to $700 billion, a 14-fold increase that exempts 26 of the 31 largest banks in the country," wrote the Senator. "This proposal ignores the serious risks posed by big banks with between $50 billion and $700 billion in assets. Just three years ago the second, third, and fourth largest bank failures in U.S. history were banks at the lower end of this size range."

"This proposed rule weakening governance and risk management standards comes against the background of a broader, big bank deregulation push by the OCC… This toxic mix of big bank deregulation is occurring at a precipitous moment-and the American public will likely pay the price in future economic downturns," the Senator concluded.

The Senator requests that the OCC withdraw the proposed rule immediately.

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