Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, DODD-FRANK ACT: U.S. PIRG Sees Growing Momentum to Break Up Big Banks, (Apr 1, 2013)

By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, Washington News Bureau

Recent scandals, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co’s London Whale incident, "have helped shift the dialogue so that now there’s finally serious momentum building around the idea of breaking up the big banks," U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski wrote in a March 28, 2013, blog posting.

Big banks should not be above the law, they should not be too big to fail, and they should not be recipients of taxpayer subsidies, he emphasized.

"There are new opportunities to move forward on protecting taxpayers, depositors and the economy from the risky practices of the biggest banks," Mierzwinski said. He noted that more and more regulators and members of Congress are aware of the need to reduce the risk posed by big banks. At the same time, Wall Street banks are "doubling their own lobbying, public relations and campaign contribution efforts against implementing Dodd-Frank reforms and against the anticipated Brown-Vitter and similar breakup and reform proposals," he said.

According to Mierzwinski, regulators refuse to hold banks accountable "both out of fear of Wall Street’s political clout and also a misplaced perception that real enforcement might hurt the economy…but things are changing."

Companies: JPMorgan Chase & Co

IndustryNews: DoddFrankAct