SENATE TAKES HISTORIC STEP TOWARD REINING IN WALL STREET, PROTECTING CONSUMERS

Banks Still Lurking in Shadows to Weaken and Delay Bill

MASSPIRG

Statement from Lizzi Weyant, Staff Attorney, Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group

“Senate passage last night of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act, S. 3217, was long overdue relief for consumers and taxpayers in Massachusetts and the country. This bill to rein in Wall Street is a bill that Main Street will like. While the bill isn’t perfect, it includes strong measures to curtail Wall Street’s gamblings, regulate the shadow derivatives markets, protect consumers’ investments and prevent future economic meltdowns.

As the bill heads to a conference committee (a similar version was passed by the House of Representatives in December), we urge Congressional leaders to agree on the strongest provisions of the House and Senate bills while rejecting the efforts of lurking Wall Street lobbyists to weaken or delay passage of a strong final law.

The conference committee should finalize a bill that includes a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency, preserves authority for state attorneys general to enforce the laws, opens up the shadow markets where derivatives are traded, and ends, once and for all, ‘too big to fail.’ We applaud our Senators Scott Brown and John Kerry for voting for these important reforms in the Senate bill.”