By Pam Martens: July 12, 2013
Wall Street regulators hauled before the Senate Banking
panel yesterday were likely expecting compliments for their agreement on
forcing big banks to boost capital. Instead, Senator Elizabeth Warren
dropped a bombshell: she and three other Senators later yesterday were
introducing legislation to restore the depression era Glass-Steagall
Act. (The Senate co-sponsors were John McCain, Republican from
Arizona, Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, and Angus King, an
Independent from Maine.)
As regulators from the Treasury, FDIC, Federal Reserve
and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency stared back in silence,
Senator Warren mapped out why the legislation was being introduced:
“…the four largest banks are
now 30 percent larger than they were just five years ago and they have
continued to engage in dangerous, high-risk practices. So, later today
Mr. Chairman, Senators McCain, Cantwell, King and I will introduce a 21st
Century Glass-Steagall Act. For half a century after the Great
Depression, Glass-Steagall kept this country safe by separating the
risky activities of investment banks from the basic checking and savings
accounts that consumers rely on every day.
“The banks lobbied for
weaker regulations and eventually the regulators started unraveling
Glass-Steagall and finally in 1999 Congress repealed what was left of
it. So now we propose a 21st Century Glass-Steagall so that we can return to the basics and try to keep the gamblers out of our banks.
Continue Reading at ....... http://wallstreetonparade.com/2013/07/senator-warren-drops-a-bombshell-in-senate-hearing-bipartisan-bill-to-restore-glass-steagall-being-introduced/
