How the banks won over Washington again

[DonViejo]

A decade out from a cataclysmic Wall Street meltdown, banks are winning again in Washington.

By ZACHARY WARMBRODT 12/28/2017 05:00 AM EST

Less than a decade after being blamed for fueling the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, banks are winning again in Washington.

The rebound for the lenders has been so remarkable that Republicans and Democrats in Congress are pushing to scale back financial regulations imposed in the wake of the meltdown — one of the few areas where the two parties agree.

President Donald Trump, who once vowed not to let Wall Street “get away with murder,” has dropped the demonizing campaign rhetoric and recruited industry veterans to his administration. His Treasury Department has drawn up a series of recommendations for trimming the post-crisis rule book. Even the Federal Reserve, the top banking regulator, is working to relax safeguards.

Lawmakers and regulators are rethinking policies including loosening mortgage protections, curtailing so-called stress tests that gauge how banks would fare during economic turmoil, and simplifying capital requirements for smaller lenders. Many of the proposals are targeted rollbacks rather than a wholesale repeal of regulations, but they would have a meaningful impact on the industry.

Behind the shift is the intense focus by the Trump administration and GOP lawmakers on boosting economic growth, a centerpiece of the campaign to enact the massive tax reform legislation. Trump said lightening up on the banks will spur lending and allow businesses to grow, an argument that some analysts question but that the banking lobby has eagerly embraced.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/28/banks-trump-administration-financial-crisis-319382

[ProfessorGAC]

1. What Could Go Wrong?

Unbelievable. Look, i was on the board of directors of a sizeable CU for many years. The regulations are not that onerous. Anybody who says that it impedes the ability of smaller banks to compete knows nothing about which they speak.

And, the problem is that many of those same "la, la, la tough for small banks" crowd are the same people who turned a blind eye while a mere handful of giant banks became monolithic controlling interests for the whole industry.

They can't have it both ways, but they want it anyway. And, that's what led to the last spate of issues. Trying to have it both ways.

[FakeNoose]

2. Obama should have really hurt those weasels

He had the chance in 2009 to really send them back to their cages. Instead the banks got off with a slap on the hand and a huge check from the US government.

If the same defaults start again in the next 3 years (or less), the Trump administration would be completely unable to handle it. It's almost like Cheeto wants it to happen, so he can bring in Russian banks to meddle with us.

Just sayin'