Dems Have Deep Ties To 2nd Bank Failure
The recent Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) implosion has caused shockwaves through the financial industry, and has exposed the potential consequences of the 2010 Dodd–Frank bill, authored by former Rep. Barney Frank (D–MA). Frank had been on the board of Signature Bank, which was taken over by the federal government following the collapse of SVB.
The U.S. Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced in a joint statement on Sunday a plan to manage the fallout of SVB’s collapse as well as the demise of Signature Bank. The statement said that no taxpayer losses would be borne and that all depositors of the institution would be made whole.
Signature Bank was a popular destination for crypto companies and had been providing deposit services for digital assets. It had been trying to limit such deposits, but the SVB collapse caused a massive run on the bank. Despite its claims of being in a “well–diversified financial position,” it was unable to withstand the pressure.
Frank had also heavily supported legislation in 2018 that rolled back some of the regulations put in place by his own Dodd–Frank bill. He claimed that his position on the board of Signature Bank had not influenced his decision. However, this raises questions about the effectiveness of the Dodd–Frank bill in protecting the American public from financial risks.
“Dodd-Frank imposed additional regulatory safeguards on banks with more than $50 billion in assets, but the rollback that passed this week, among other things, raises that threshold to $250 billion,” the Washington Post reported in 2018.
In 2009, Breitbart News editor-at-large Joel Pollak confronted Frank, asking if he shared any responsibility for the global financial meltdown of 2008. Frank dismissed the question and challenged the student to make clear what else a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts might have done to prevent the crisis.
Frank’s disregard for responsibility and his willingness to support legislation that could benefit him personally demonstrate his lack of commitment to protecting the American public. The potential consequences of the Dodd-Frank bill and the events that led to the SVB and Signature Bank collapses should be cause for serious concern.
Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) endorsed changes to his own Dodd-Frank law in 2018 that freed mid-sized banks from undergoing stress tests. He sits on Signature Bank's board, which just collapsed.
I reached him via phone tonight and he declined to comment https://t.co/JY77rtNkHt
— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) March 13, 2023