Will US banks finally succeed in rolling back post-crisis reforms?
New York — Big US banks are set on getting Congress this year to loosen or eliminate the Volcker rule against using depositors’ funds for speculative bets on the bank’s own account, a test case of whether Wall Street can flex its muscle in Washington again. In interviews over the past several weeks, half a dozen industry lobbyists said they began meeting with legislative staff after the US election in November to discuss matters including a rollback of Volcker, part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform that Congress enacted after the financial crisis and bank bailouts. Lobbyists said they plan to present evidence to congressional leaders that the Volcker rule is actually bad for companies, investors and the US economy. Big banks have been making such arguments for years, but the industry’s influence waned significantly in Washington after the financial crisis. The Obama administration’s regulators and enforcement agencies have been tough on banks, while lawmakers from both parties hav...
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