Demand Progress

Stop Wall Street from using the coronavirus to weaken regulations

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    Stop Wall Street from using the coronavirus to weaken regulations

    Petition to the Federal Reserve:
    We oppose the proposals from the Bank Policy Institute to lower capital requirements and ease the periodic "stress tests" banks take to prove they can survive another economic crisis. We have just seen a major stock market decline and the coronavirus may cause a recession. This is precisely the time to keep strong capital requirements and stress tests -- and the worst time to relax them. Tell the big banks "no" and reject their effort to weaken these critical protections against another financial crisis.

    We're appalled: The big banks are trying to use the coronavirus as an excuse to evade the regulations established after the 2008 crash to protect us from their reckless behavior.1

    Wall Street banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Citigroup are trying to get out of "stress tests" designed to ensure the banks won't fail in the event of a financial crisis.

    The stunning decline in the stock market and the impact of the coronavirus could create another financial crisis. Stress tests are crucial in moments like this -- and the big banks want to get out of them. We have to stop them.

    Sign the petition and tell the Federal Reserve: Don't give into Wall Street and don't weaken regulations designed to stop another crash!

    The big banks also want to weaken capital requirements, which ensure that they have enough funding on hand in order to absorb the kind of losses we have seen in the financial markets in recent weeks.

    When banks don't have enough capital, they can fail in a crisis and take the entire economy down with them. Capital requirements help prevent that. Stress tests help prove the banks are sound -- and require them to take corrective action if they're not.

    Wall Street never wanted these rules. They fought hard to oppose their passage in 2009 and have worked hard to undermine them at every opportunity.

    Now they are trying to use the coronavirus as a justification for weakening these critical protections - at a time when we need them the most. Can you send a message and put a stop to this?

    Add your name and tell the Federal Reserve to resist Wall Street's pressure on crucial banking regulations.

     

    Sources:
    1. Washington Post, "Big banks want regulation eased because of coronavirus. Experts call it opportunistic," March 3, 2020.