The American Bankers Affiliation welcomed the Republican’s protection of a 2018 legislation that weakened rules.
Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana garnered applause from a room stuffed with bankers on Tuesday after he dismissed requires more durable rules following the collapse of Silicon Valley Financial institution and Signature Financial institution.
“There are a whole lot of speaking heads on the market who’re saying that the answer is extra regulation, and I strongly disagree,” Daines mentioned in remarks to the American Bankers Affiliation’s Washington Summit, an annual gathering of bank CEOs and other top executives.
The Montana Republican went on to defend a 2018 legislation that progressive lawmakers and consultants have mentioned is no less than partly responsible for the latest financial institution failures. That measure, often known as S.2155, weakened post-financial disaster rules for banks with between $50 billion and $250 billion in property, subjecting corporations corresponding to SVB — which lobbied for the changes — to much less stringent oversight and paving the best way for extra risk-taking and business consolidation.
Daines, a member of the Senate Banking Committee and a major recipient of securities business donations, known as the stricter liquidity necessities and different guidelines gutted by the 2018 legislation “overreaching rules” and claimed that efforts to revive the safeguards are creating “extra fear” within the banking sector.
“This was not the reason for this failure,” Daines mentioned of S.2155, which former President Donald Trump signed into legislation after it handed with bipartisan help.
Watch the senator’s remarks, which start on the 1:32:04 mark:
It’s unsurprising that Daines’ protection of S.2155 was acquired favorably by a gathering of the American Bankers Affiliation, which was one in every of many business teams that lobbied aggressively for the measure.
“The lobbyists have been all over the place. You couldn’t throw an elbow with out working into one,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who vocally opposed S.2155, informed reporters final week.
Warren and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) have introduced laws that may repeal a important part of the 2018 legislation.
The Related Press reported Tuesday that within the hours earlier than Congress accepted the measure, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) — one of many laws’s prime Democratic supporters — “huddled with executives from Financial institution of America, Citigroup, Uncover, and Wells Fargo, who have been there on behalf of the American Bankers Affiliation.”
“The American Bankers Affiliation, which helped lead the push, later paid $125,000 for an advert marketing campaign thanking Tester for his position within the invoice’s passage,” the Related Press famous.
The banking group’s PAC spent greater than $2.6 million on marketing campaign contributions in the course of the 2018 election cycle, with greater than 76% of the donations going to Republicans, according to OpenSecrets.
Daines, who gained reelection in 2020, received $10,000 from the American Bankers Affiliation PAC throughout that yr’s marketing campaign.
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