Tag Archives: Too Big to Fail

The FSOC has the authority to designate institutions as "systemically important," which opponents say leaves the door open for taxpayer-funded bailouts.

“Emergency lending is a critical tool that can be used in times of crisis to help mitigate extraordinary pressures in financial markets that would otherwise have severe adverse consequences for households, businesses, and the U.S. economy,” Fed Chairman Janet Yellen said.

Should banks actually be allowed to fail? Well, the “big, dumb” ones should, according to JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, who on Wednesday blasted the institutionalized belief that mega-dollar bailouts for badly run banks is good for the economy.

The Dodd-Frank Act still allows the Fed some of the same emergency lending programs used in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis despite the legislation's stated purpose of ending such bailouts, according to a study by Norbert J. Michel, Research Fellow in Financial Regulations, the Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity at the Heritage Foundation.

In July 2015, the House Financial Services Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the criteria for designating a company as a SIFI, criticizing the $50 billion asset threshold required by Dodd-Frank.

Taylor noted there are two current bills in Congress—one in the House (the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act of 2015) and one in the Senate (the Taxpayer Protection and Responsible Resolution Act), which he called "essential" for ending government bailouts.

Some members of the Subcommittee contended at the hearing that Dodd-Frank is codifying "too big to fail" by continuing to designate firms (both banks and non-banks) as SIFIs, therefore guaranteeing those firms a federal backstop should a financial crisis occur.

"Since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, there has been much discussion by members of Congress, regulators, and academic experts related to the designation and regulatory standards for bank holding company SIFIs," the Committee wrote in a memorandum about Wednesday's hearing.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), the Academic Experts in Financial Regulation (AEFR), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce all filed briefs backing the New York-based global insurance provider's attempt to remove the SIFI tag.

Garrett and Mike Capuano (D-Massachusetts) introduced H.R. 2625, also known as the Bailout Prevention Act (BPA) of 2015 in response to the Fed's perceived failure to make any meaningful changes with regards to implementing certain provisions of Dodd-Frank that would limit the Fed's broad powers.