Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Banking Issues
October 13, 2015 3:00 PM
Democratic presidential front runner Hillary Clinton last week became the latest presidential candidate to outline her views on Wall Street reform, taking an incremental approach that tried to strike a balance between pleasing the liberal base while not taking a radical stance on issues. Following is how her plan compares with her competitors, both Republican and Democrat.
Hillary Clinton
Clinton's plan would institute a "risk fee" on any bank with more than $50 billion of assets, the size of which would depend in part on an institution's dependence on short-term liquidity. Her proposal would also call for regulators to get even more powers to break up the biggest banks and impose more regulation of the "shadow banking" sector. An annotated guide to her speech announcing her views can be found here .
Jeb Bush
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has suggested that Dodd-Frank increased systemic risk, calling for its repeal. He's also criticized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, blaming new rules from it for making it hard to get a mortgage. If elected, Bush has said he would subject all new rules, even from independent agencies like CFPB, to review by the White House .
Ben Carson
The brain surgeon turned-presidential candidate has said he was "pretty disgusted" by some bank activities prior to 2008 and said repealing Glass-Steagall was a mistake. "Some regulations are quite good. Glass-Steagall, which kept the banks from playing fast and loose with money, which is one of the things that caused the crash in '29 that was a good regulation," he said in an interview with the Heritage Foundation.
Martin O'Malley
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is barely registering in Democratic presidential polls, but that could change after the first Democratic debate on Oct. 13. O'Malley has accused Clinton of being too soft on Wall Street , calling for a break up of the biggest banks by reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act. He also wants to raise capital requirements for the biggest banks with more than $500 billion of assets to at least 15%.
Marco Rubio
Republican candidates have largely steered clear of specifics on Wall Street reform, but Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fl., called for repealing the Dodd-Frank Act during the first Republican debate. Though Rubio got his figures wrong , he claimed that the financial reform law was hurting too many community banks and small businesses.
Bernie Sanders
Clinton's closest Democratic competitor, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would go much further than the former secretary of state. Sanders has built his campaign in part on anti-Wall Street rhetoric , calling for breaking up the "too big to fail" banks and restoring Glass Steagall Act-separation between commercial and investment banks.
Donald Trump
The Republican frontrunner has said little about Wall Street reform specifically, beyond naming Paul Volcker as his favorite Fed chairman . He has also named Dodd-Frank as an example of over-regulation.
