June, 13 2017, 12:30pm EDT
Treasury Report Proposes to Demolish Wall Street Reform
Statements of Public Citizen Experts
WASHINGTON
Note: On June 12, the U.S. Treasury Department released the first in a series of reports mandated under an executive order to review financial reform laws.
"Filing the teeth off the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would invite financial scam artists to prey on American victims. We need stronger protections for consumers, but instead, this proposal is a toxic concoction of repackaged banker handouts that industry lobbyists have pushed since the passage of Dodd-Frank. The report ignores the tremendous damage caused by Wall Street in the 2008 crash and the continued evidence - such as Wells Fargo's millions of fraudulently opened accounts - that we need tougher regulation and enforcement."
- Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs, Public Citizen
"Volume one in the blueprint for Wall Street reform demolition makes clear that the Trump administration aims to endanger the economy in the service of an already bloated financial sector. Removing the guardrails of the Volcker Rule - which restricted gambling with depositors' funds - would devalue the core loan-making purpose of banking. While some of the report's dangerous proposals would require legislation from Congress, others can be implemented by the deregulatory team Trump has assembled from the likes of Goldman Sachs and OneWest, a firm infamous for foreclosures."
- Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate, Public Citizen's Congress Watch division
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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