{"id":6623,"date":"2010-10-28T15:45:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-28T19:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/senators-call-on-regulators-to-implement-strong-merkley-levin-provisions\/"},"modified":"2023-07-24T11:11:06","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T15:11:06","slug":"senators-call-on-regulators-to-implement-strong-merkley-levin-provisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/senators-call-on-regulators-to-implement-strong-merkley-levin-provisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Los senadores piden a los reguladores que implementen disposiciones estrictas de Merkley-Levin"},"content":{"rendered":"


Washington DC<\/strong> – To ensure that the Merkley-Levin proprietary trading restrictions of the Dodd-Frank Act are implemented as intended by Congress, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and 16 of their colleagues submitted comments to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) Thursday.  <\/p>\n

In the comments, the group of senators provided detailed guidance to regulators to help them effectively implement and enforce the statutory language. Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)., Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), and Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), who had all cosponsored the provision during the Senate floor debate on financial reform, joined Senators Merkley and Levin in providing the guidance to regulators<\/p>\n

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“After taxpayers were forced to bail out banks and other systemically significant financial companies whose proprietary trades went awry, we determined that the economy and taxpayers need strong protections against an increasingly casino-like financial system,” the senators wrote.  “High-risk investing is an appropriate and legitimate activity in a free market system, but it cannot again imperil our nation’s economic well-being.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Financial Stability Oversight Council is a collaborative body established as part of the Dodd-Frank Act to monitor and address risks to financial stability.  The FSOC is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury and authorized to facilitate regulatory coordination, recommend stricter standards, and break up firms that pose a “grave threat” to financial stability, among other responsibilities.  The FSOC is currently requesting comments to inform a study of the implementation of the Merkley-Levin provisions, to be completed by January 2011 as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.  The comment period closes on November 5, 2010. <\/p>\n

 “Despite having just emerged as a nation from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, powerful interests will seek to weaken the Merkley-Levin Volcker Rule protections,” the senators wrote.  “We in Congress resisted those efforts and provided you with a clear mandate and broad authority to act.  The American people are now relying upon you to fully carry out the law.”<\/p>\n

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28 de octubre de 2010<\/p>\n

Hon. Timothy Geithner, Chairman
Financial Stability Oversight Council and
secretario del Tesoro
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20520<\/p>\n

Hon. Ben Bernanke, Vice Chairman
Financial Stability Oversight Council and Chairman, Federal Reserve Board
20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551<\/p>\n

Hon. Sheila Bair, Chairman
Federal Deposit Insurance Commission
550 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC  20429<\/p>\n

Hon. Gary Gensler, Chairman
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581<\/p>\n

Hon. Mary Shapiro, Chairman
Comisi\u00f3n Nacional del Mercado de Valores
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549<\/p>\n

Mr. John Walsh, Acting Comptroller
Contralor\u00eda de la Moneda
Administrator of National Banks
Washington, DC 20219<\/p>\n

Mr. Edward DeMarco, Acting Director
Federal Housing Finance Agency
1700 G Street, NW, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20552<\/p>\n

Hon. Debbie Matz, Chairman
National Credit Union Administration
Calle Duque 1775
Alexandria, VA 22314-3428<\/p>\n

Mr. William Haraf, Commissioner California Department of Financial Institutions,
on behalf of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors
1155 Connecticut Ave, NW, 5th Floor
Washington, DC  20036-4306 <\/p>\n

Mr. John Huff, Director
Missouri Department of Insurance,
on behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 701
Washington, DC 20001<\/p>\n

Mr. David Massey, Deputy Administrator North Carolina Securities Division,
on behalf of the North American Securities Administrators Association
750 First Street, NE, Suite 1140
Washington, D.C. 20002<\/p>\n

RE:  FSOC-2010-0002:  Implementation of the Merkley-Levin Provisions on Proprietary Trading and Conflicts of Interest (Section 619)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council:<\/p>\n

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act sets forth a clear mandate to end high-risk, conflict-ridden financial activities at our nation’s banks and systemically significant nonbank financial companies.  It does so by ending proprietary trading within our nation’s banking entities, limiting their relationships with hedge funds and private equity funds, and restricting such activities at systemically significant nonbank financial companies, as well as explicitly prohibiting conflicts of interest. <\/p>\n

As co-sponsors of the Merkley-Levin Amendment, which ultimately became Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act, we urge the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to provide guidance to regulators that can help them effectively implement and enforce the statutory language as Congress intended. <\/p>\n

After taxpayers were forced to bail out banks and other systemically significant financial companies whose proprietary trades went awry, we determined that the economy and taxpayers need strong protections against an increasingly casino-like financial system.  High-risk investing is an appropriate and legitimate activity in a free market system, but it cannot again imperil our nation’s economic well-being. <\/p>\n

To ensure that the Merkley-Levin proprietary trading restrictions (also called the “Volcker Rule”) are most effectively applied, Section 619 directs the FSOC to conduct a study and make recommendations on how to best implement its provisions.  (Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et. seq.), §13(b), as added by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 111-203, §619 (2010).)  As one of the FSOC’s initial tasks, this study will be a critical test of whether the FSOC lives up to its statutory mandate of independence, regulatory cooperation, and professional analysis.  We hope that each member of the FSOC, voting and non-voting, will participate fully in this effort. <\/p>\n

 In crafting recommendations to ensure the Merkley-Levin provisions are implemented as intended, the FSOC will undoubtedly need to address many issues.  We would like to focus your attention, however, on a few critical points:   <\/p>\n