WASHINGTON – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the Federal Reserve announced that it will give banks broad exemptions in complying with the Volcker Rule for 2015, and that it is likely to continue those exemptions through July 2017:
“The Wall Street Casino is alive and well. Last week it was Congress granting the big banks the right to keep trading on banned risky derivatives with government backing. Today it is the Fed granting big banks two more years to make big bets through direct ownership of private equity and hedge funds.
“It all amounts to the same thing – spineless accommodation of the big banks’ desire to run taxpayer-subsidized hedge funds. This is wrong for taxpayers and it is wrong for the stability of our banking system. We expect more of the Federal Reserve.”
Merkley is one of the two co-authors of the Volcker Rule, along with retiring Senator Carl Levin (D-MI).
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