Elizabeth Warren attacks 'dangerous, wrong' bill to relax rules on US banks

Congress has forgotten the “devastating impact of the financial crisis”, Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Tuesday as Republicans moved closer to relaxing banking regulations implemented after the financial crash of 2008.

A vote of 67-32, with support from a coalition of moderate Democrats, a number of whom are facing tough midterm elections, allowed the Senate to begin debating a bill that would scale back some of the 2010 laws, known as Dodd-Frank, meant to prevent future abuses in the financial system.

The strong bipartisan vote paves the way for the Senate to pass the bill by the end of the week. Lawmakers in the Republican-led House would still need to approve the measure before it comes law.

Republican leaders said the bill would boost small banks and businesses. Senior Democrats said it was an attempt to deregulate big banks that caused the 2008 crash, inviting similar disaster.

“This bill seeks to right-size the regulatory system in our country and to allow our community banks and credit unions to flourish,” senator Mike Crapo, chair of the Senate banking committee and the author of the legislation, told reporters on Tuesday.

The legislation would increase the threshold at which banks are subject to stricter capital and planning requirements. Lawmakers are intent on easing those rules for midsize and large regional banks, asserting that would boost lending and the economy.

Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who worked with the Obama administration on banking industry oversight after the 2008 crash, pledged to fight the bill, even if she faced long odds.



Source: theguardian

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