Democrats in the House joined Republicans last week and voted to approve the Volcker Rule Regulation Harmonization Act, which exempts banks with less than $10 billion is assets from the Volcker Rule.
After 11 democratic senators joined Republicans in cosponsoring a bill to “raise the threshold for extra regulatory scrutiny for banks from $50 billion to $250 billion,” it left less than 10 U.S. banks subject to scrutiny, Splinter News reported.
The Volcker Rule “prohibits banks from making speculative investments with people’s money (with exceptions), by exempting banks with less than $10 billion in assets,” Splinter News reported.
Paul Volcker, who the law was named after, said the recent provision to the Senate bill exempting smaller banks provides “plausible small loopholes” that “can be ‘gamed’ and exploited with unfortunate consequences.” The exemption of these smaller banks is being called risky behavior because most risky trades aren’t caught before they reek havoc, experts say.
“That is why you have the Volcker rule in the first place,” FDIC chair said.
The new rule, which gained the support of 78 House Democrats, would also turn over regulatory authority from the FDIC to the Federal Reserve. Therefore, the agency that protects consumers’ deposits from a bank going under no longer has the oversight and control it once had making it easier for the Trump administration to weaken the Volcker rule.
From lobbying disclosures, it shows that American Bankers Association, which represents banks like CitiBank and Bank of America, have lobbied on the Volcker Rule in both the House and Senate this past year. A couple of those Democrats include, Beto O-Rourke, who is currently running against Ted Cruz and Krysten Sinema, who received big donations from the financial sector as of recent.
The remaining Democrats who voted to weaken bank regulations are as follows:
Alma Adams, NC-12
Pete Aguilar, CA-31
Nanette Barragán, CA-44
Joyce Beatty, OH-3
Ami Bera, CA-7
Donald Beyer, VA-8
Lisa Blunt Rochester, DE-1
Brendan Boyle, PA-13
Anthony Brown, MD-4
Julia Brownley, CA-26
G. K. Butterfield, NC-1
Salud Carbajal, CA-24
Tony Cárdenas, CA-29
Yvette D. Clarke, NY-9
William Lacy Clay, MO-1
Emanuel Cleaver II, MO-5
James E. Clyburn, SC-6
Gerald E. Connolly, VA-11
Jim Cooper, TN-5
J. Luis Correa, CA-46
Jim Costa, CA-16
Henry Cuellar, TX-28
Susan A. Davis, CA-53
John Delaney, MD-6
Suzan K. DelBene, WA-1
Elizabeth Esty, CT-5
Dwight Evans, PA-2
Bill Foster, IL-11
Marcia L. Fudge, OH-11
Vicente Gonzalez, TX-15
Josh Gottheimer, NJ-5
Gene Green, TX-29
Colleen Hanabusa, HI-1
Denny Heck, WA-10
Jim Himes, CT-4
Steny H. Hoyer, MD-5
Sheila Jackson Lee, TX-18
Hakeem Jeffries, NY-8
Hank Johnson, GA-4
Eddie Bernice Johnson, TX-30
Robin Kelly, IL-2
Derek Kilmer, WA-6
Ron Kind, WI-3
Ann McLane Kuster, NH-2
Conor Lamb, PA-18
Rick Larsen, WA-2
Brenda Lawrence, MI-14
Al Lawson, FL-5
Dave Loebsack, IA-2
Michelle Lujan Grisham, NM-1
Sean Patrick Maloney, NY-18
A. Donald McEachin, VA-4
Gregory W. Meeks, NY-5
Grace Meng, NY-6
Seth Moulton, MA-6
Stephanie Murphy, FL-7
Tom O’Halleran, AZ-1
Beto O’Rourke, TX-16
Jimmy Panetta, CA-20
Ed Perlmutter, CO-7
Scott Peters, CA-52
Collin C. Peterson, MN-7
Mike Quigley, IL-5
Kathleen Rice, NY-4
Cedric Richmond, LA-2
Jacky Rosen, NV-3
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, MD-2
Tim Ryan, OH-13
Brad Schneider, IL-10
Brad Sherman, CA-30
Kyrsten Sinema, AZ-9
Thomas Suozzi, NY-3
Bennie Thompson, MS-2
Juan Vargas, CA-51
Marc Veasey, TX-33
Filemon Vela, TX-34
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, FL-23
Frederica Wilson, FL-24
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