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<span id=":qx" class="hP" tabindex="-1" style="outline-style:none;outline-width:initial;outline-color:initial;padding-right:10px">Your Opportunity To Stop Big Bank Bailouts</span><span id=":qy" class="J-J5-Ji" style="display:inline-block"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf hX" style="border-collapse:collapse;margin-right:9px;margin-top:2px;display:inline-table;vertical-align:top;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px">
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<span name="Rep. Alan Grayson" class="gD" style="font-size:13px;font-weight:bold;white-space:nowrap;display:inline;vertical-align:top;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Rep. Alan Grayson</span> <span class="go" style="vertical-align:top;color:rgb(85,85,85)"><a target="_blank" href="http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1311182&ctx=mail" class="acP" style="vertical-align:top;color:rgb(34,34,34)">via</a> <a href="http://bounce.exacttarget.com">bounce.exacttarget.com</a> </span></div>
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<div class="gK" style="padding-top:0px;padding-right:2px"><span></span><span id=":sh" class="g3" title="Tue, Oct 22, 2013 at 2:32 PM" alt="Tue, Oct 22, 2013 at 2:32 PM" style="vertical-align:top;margin-right:3px">2:32 PM (7 hours ago)</span><div class="zd" tabindex="-1" style="display:inline-block;height:20px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial">
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<div class="T-I J-J5-Ji T-I-Js-IF aaq T-I-ax7 L3" title="Reply" tabindex="0" style="display:inline-block;border-top-left-radius:2px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:2px;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;margin-right:0px;height:27px;line-height:27px;min-width:32px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial;padding-top:0px;padding-right:8px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:8px;background-color:rgb(245,245,245);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(top,rgb(245,245,245),rgb(241,241,241));color:rgb(68,68,68);border-top-width:1px;border-right-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-left-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-style:solid;border-top-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-right-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-bottom-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563)">
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<span class="hb" style="vertical-align:top;color:rgb(119,119,119)">to <span dir="ltr" name="me" class="g2" style="vertical-align:top">me</span></span></div><div class="ajy" style="display:inline-block;margin-left:5px;vertical-align:top">
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<div id=":zn" style="overflow-x:hidden;overflow-y:hidden"><u></u><div><img src="http://cl.exct.net/open.aspx?ffcb10-fe5d107272660c757715-fdf617797162007e70167070-fe5f157071610178711c-fe6715707160067a7512-fe281c747467017f731373-ffcf14" width="1" height="1"><table width="600" align="center">
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<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-right:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0.5em;text-align:center"><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><img src="http://image.exct.net/lib/fe5f157071610178711c/m/1/1022LipstickBailouts.jpg"></a><b><br>
</b></p><p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-right:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0.5em;text-align:center"><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><strong>I Agree, and I Don't Even Wear Lipstick.</strong></a></p>
</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Dear Ellen,<br><br>I've found an interesting and novel way to <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">end Wall Street bailouts,</a></strong> and prove once and for all that no bank is "too big to fail." And <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">I need your help.</a></strong> This is a bit complex, but I think you'll find that this is a unique opportunity for you and me to make a difference.<br>
<br>Here's the story: <br><br>Recently, federal bank regulators proposed a new rule that would place strong new restrictions on the eight biggest banks in the country. Right now, these banks and their risky ventures are in essence subsidized by the taxpayers, because their own lenders believe that the taxpayers will bail out these banks if they go broke. <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">Wall Street bankers rake in big bonuses by playing a game of chance - heads, they win; tails, we lose.</a></strong><br>
<br>The new rule says that these banks need to maintain a larger buffer to cover their speculative bets, to <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">make sure that they don't gamble with our money.</a></strong> JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon and State Street would have to put up $89 billion to guard against unforeseen losses. This would make the banks much safer. And <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">after the 2008 wipeout, which destroyed 20% of America's net worth in 18 months, that's a good thing.</a></strong><br>
<br>Before this rule can go into effect, there's a comment period during which bank regulators have to invite feedback from the public. Often, this period is dominated by big bank lobbyists, who whine incessantly against whatever they don't like. And in this case, <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">Wall Street already has mobilized its Republican hirelings in Congress to go on the attack against this rule,</a></strong> because they don't think that the public is paying attention. <br>
<br>But <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">some of us are paying attention.</a></strong> Congressman John Conyers and I have written a letter asking the government to enforce this new rule. Not only do we want it enforced, but we want to make it even stronger!<br>
<br><strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">That's where you come in.</a></strong><br><br><strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">We need you to join us.</a></strong><br>
<br>We'd like you to co-sign our letter. Tell the government that big banks on <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">Wall Street shouldn't gamble with your money.</a></strong><br>
<br>Your support matters - it demonstrates that the public is weighing in, and it gives the government regulators the spine to stand up to big banks. Without us, the regulators will think that the banks are the only ones paying attention. If thousands of us show that we care, we will embolden the regulators to crack down on Wall Street's taxpayer-funded, high-finance casinos. <br>
<br>So <strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">sign our letter. You can even add your own comment.</a></strong><br>
<br>I will submit this letter, along with your signatures and comments, to the bank regulators. We've been in touch with them, and they've asked to hear what we have to say. <br><br><strong><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?qs=c1cd6b0ac728dbf0aabb807d6479bf1e9ef5c45480d580b63c6811f14dac97d3" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">Let's tell them. Together. Click here to do it.</a></strong><br>
<br>And thanks for your help. <br><br>Courage, <br><br>Alan Grayson</p><p><br></p><p></p><p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#0f00ee">Skip to main content</p>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;text-align:center;font:12.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#444444;background-color:#e0e0e0"><b>9071 people have signed our petition -</b></p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;text-align:center;font:12.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#444444;background-color:#e0e0e0"><b>91% toward our goal of 10000!</b></p>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;text-align:center;font:14.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#2d6ddb;background-color:#bde0fe"><b>9,071</b></p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#494949"><span style="font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#e03832"><b>Constance B.</b></span> Philadelphia, PA</p>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#838383">October 23, 2013 - 12:12am</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;text-align:center;font:14.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#2d6ddb;background-color:#bde0fe"><b>9,070</b></p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#e03832"><b>Linda K.</b></p>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#838383">October 23, 2013 - 12:12am</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;text-align:center;font:14.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#2d6ddb;background-color:#bde0fe"><b>9,069</b></p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#494949"><span style="font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#e03832"><b>heidi s.</b></span> Centennial, CO</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:14.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#1035c1">I am sick of seeing banks and their CEO's avoid criminal prosecution, all the while paying fines for what a regular person would go to jail for the rest of their life for..I will not stop demanding criminal prosecution of these banks</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#838383">October 23, 2013 - 12:12am</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;text-align:center;font:14.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#2d6ddb;background-color:#bde0fe"><b>9,068</b></p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#494949"><span style="font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#e03832"><b>Christine C.</b></span> San Francisco, CA</p>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#838383">October 23, 2013 - 12:12am</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;text-align:center;font:14.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#2d6ddb;background-color:#bde0fe"><b>9,067</b></p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#e03832"><b>Pamela P.</b><span style="font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#494949"> Vale, OR</span></p>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#838383">October 23, 2013 - 12:12am</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;text-align:center;font:14.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#2d6ddb;background-color:#bde0fe"><b>9,066</b></p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#494949"><span style="font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#e03832"><b>Ellen K.</b></span> Oregon City, OR</p>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:11.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#838383">October 23, 2013 - 12:12am</p>
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<li style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande'">I cosigned Rep. Grayson and Rep. Conyers' letter to make sure big banks don't gamble with our money. NoBankWelfare dot com <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NoBankWelfare"><span style="color:#d62c2b">#NoBankWelfare</span></a> — 44 min 31 sec ago</li>
<li style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Think a bank CEO getting 10s of millions the SAME yr. his bank goes bust is crap? Do something about it <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NoBankWelfare"><span style="color:#d62c2b">#NoBankWelfare</span></a> .com — 46 min 41 sec ago</li>
<li style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:13.0px 'Lucida Grande'">I cosigned Rep. Grayson and Rep. Conyers' letter to make sure big banks don't gamble with our money. <a href="http://t.co/McAQPeu1oh"><span style="color:#d62c2b">http://t.co/McAQPeu1oh</span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NoBankWelfare"><span style="color:#d62c2b">#NoBankWelfare</span></a> — 57 min 37 sec ago</li>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:14.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Federal bank regulators have proposed a rule that would place strong restrictions on the eight biggest banks in the country. The new rule requires these banks to maintain a larger buffer to cover any risky bets - which ensures that they don't gamble with our money. Federal bank regulators are requesting feedback from you, the public, on this proposed rule. Co-sign our letter to tell them they're on the right track - and demand that big banks stop gambling with our money.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:15.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#0a2bbd"><span style="font:18.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#494949"><b>Petition:</b></span> "Big banks shouldn't gamble with our money. Twenty percent of America's net worth was destroyed in the 2008 financial meltdown - that should never happen again. I am co-signing the Grayson-Conyers letter to make sure big banks stop gambling with my money."</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande';color:#d62c2b"><b>Read the Letter</b></p>
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<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">The Honorable Thomas Curry<br>
Comptroller of the Currency<br>
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency<br>
400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218<br>
Washington, D.C. 20219</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">The Honorable Ben Bernanke<br>
Chairman<br>
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System<br>
20th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.<br>
Washington, D.C. 20551</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">The Honorable Martin J. Gruenberg<br>
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation<br>
550 17th Street NW<br>
Washington, DC 20429-9990</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Dear Comptroller Curry, Chairman Bernanke, and Chairman Gruenberg:</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">We write to commend you for tackling a core problem in our financial system: too much gambling with other people’s money, by banks that are often regarded as too big to fail. As Andrew Haldane, the Executive Director for Financial Stability for the Bank of England, has noted, every financial crisis has one critical ingredient: excess leverage. This is because a financial institution with a lot of equity can absorb unexpected losses, whereas one with too much debt relative to its equity will fail in the face of financial stress.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">We think that the standard you have proposed, a supplementary leverage ratio (SLR), is less prone to manipulation and more likely to succeed than many alternatives. At the same time, we also believe that the proposed ratio is simply too low. As Nobel Prize winner Eugene Fama recently argued, "The simple solution is to make sure these firms have a lot more equity capital -- not a little more, but a lot more -- so they are not playing with other people's money.” We agree.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">The problem the proposed rule addresses is as follows: A system in which banks or bank-like institutions are tightly coupled with one another, and in which those institutions have too much debt relative to equity, is prone to meltdowns that can spill into the real economy and cause massive damage. Whether these liabilities are in the form of derivatives and off-balance-sheet assets or overvalued tulips pledged as collateral, too much debt without loss-absorbing equity to match it is simply too dangerous to exist.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">It is difficult to measure the exact cost to society of our undercapitalized large banks blowing up during the most recent financial crisis, but it was certainly enormous. The nonprofit advocacy and research group Better Markets pegged the cost at roughly $12 trillion, whereas the U.S. Government Accountability Office put it at $22 trillion. Regardless of which figure one uses, it is obvious that the United States is a much poorer society because there was too much leverage backed by over-valued collateral in our financial system. The proposed rule strikes at this problem.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Of course, all capital and accounting standards are not created equal, and many are prone to manipulation, especially during a crisis. For example, in 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Chairman Robert Herz complained of getting “calls and visits from some of those institutions that are now in government hands, about two weeks before they get taken over, trying to get the accounting [standards] changed.” It is critical to set standards that are as simple and strong as possible, so as to reduce the pressure on regulatory bodies to allow bad actors into the market, as well as to create sufficient information in the market to ensure that investors are pricing risk accurately.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">The proposed rule by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) would require large, systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) to hold more equity relative to their amount of debt. This rule would require the application of the SLR to the institution’s balance sheet, in addition to a risk-adjusted capital ratio. An SLR measures a financial institution’s tier one capital against its total assets. A risk-adjusted capital ratio measures a financial institution’s capital base against assets that are adjusted by regulators based on how risky they are perceived to be. According to the rule, SIFIs would be required to have a minimum capitalization of 3%; to be allowed capital distributions and executive bonuses, the capitalization would be higher, at 6% for the holding company.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">An earlier rule proposed a minimum amount for the SLR. This rule would define the amount required for an institution to be deemed well-capitalized and able to pay out executive bonuses and dividends. It only applies to bank holding companies (BHCs) with more than $700 billion of consolidated assets or over $10 trillion in assets under custody. The institutions to which this rule would apply are Citigroup Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Bank of America Corporation; The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation; Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; Morgan Stanley; State Street Corporation; and Wells Fargo & Company. These are the institutions that are often regarded as “too big to fail.”</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">We believe that an SLR is a more accurate measurement of how much risk a financial institution is actually taking on, versus using risk-based capital.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">In a crisis, as former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has observed, the market cares about the leverage ratio, not risk-adjusted capital. Risk weights are prone to manipulation by internal bank models. As the Vice-Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Tom Hoenig, has noted, there was a “steady downward trend in risk weights and upward trend in leverage leading into the crisis.” And less-capitalized banks manipulated risk weights after their internal models were approved by regulators. The use of a leverage ratio in the United States by regulators meant that American banks were, relatively speaking, better capitalized than their European counterparts.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Risk-weighted capital ratios also have the added downside of increasing, rather than reducing, systemic risk. Regulators deemed certain asset classes as less risky than others. Mortgage backed securities, sovereign debt of Zone A states, agency debt, and interbank debt all effectively received subsidies because regulators determined that banks had to hold limited capital against them. Thus, a crisis beginning in mortgage debt spread through agency debt, interbank debt and into sovereign debt. Risk-adjusted capital allowed banks to treat Greek sovereign debt as bearing the same risk as German sovereign debt. Regulators cannot predict the future, but risk-adjusted capital models require them to. Leverage ratios do not.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">As you continue crafting and applying this rule, we believe several principles should apply:</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">1) <b>When in Doubt, Require More Capital</b>: Insufficient capital requirements for banking institutions might increase the return on equity of specific institutions and help bank executives garner bonuses, but it also caused a multi-trillion-dollar financial crisis. Erring on the side of requiring too little capital is not a risk worth taking. It makes no sense that smaller, simpler, less complex banks that have no implicit backstop are better capitalized than large, opaque, and systemically significant institutions that have sprawling international operations and an undeserved taxpayer-enabled funding advantage.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Stanford University professor Anat Admati recommends that large banks hold capital levels of 20 percent. Tom Hoenig has pointed out that the average Tier 1 leverage ratio for banks that have between $250 million and $10 billion in assets is a little under 10 percent. A 6% ratio, with a 3% minimum threshold, is insufficient. We urge you to increase the SLR substantially for large institutions, in accordance with bipartisan legislation backed by Senators Sherrod Brown and David Vitter.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">2) <b>Set the Highest Possible Standards</b>: Setting high capital standards is critical; in a crisis, simplicity matters. An SLR is simpler and easier to understand than a risk-based capital ratio. Therefore, we think an SLR should be the primary measure for regulators, and that risk-based capital standards should be the backstop. During a crisis, investors believed the leverage ratio, whereas they did not trust risk-based capital.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Ensuring that the SLR is a high-quality ratio is also critical. The numerator in the ratio should be Common Equity Tier 1 capital. In addition, the SLR should conform to the proposed Basel revision of leverage ratio (from consultative document issued June 2013). The Basil revision updates capital standards for derivatives and off-balance sheet assets, although we’d prefer the use of the more cautious International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) when accounting for derivatives exposure as opposed to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Regulators should also ensure that loan loss reserves and deferred tax credits are not being included as a part of an institution’s regulatory capital.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">3) <b>Cast a Wide Net</b>: The application of the Supplementary Leverage Ratio should be extended beyond the largest financial institutions. The Savings and Loan crisis involved thrifts that were not particularly large, but it still was costly to certain regional economies. The fall of Long Term Capital Management, a highly leveraged hedge fund, created enormous problems for the large banks and nearly required a massive bailout. In a deeply interconnected system without the firewalls of Glass-Steagall, the risks of inadequate capitalization are not confined solely to the largest institutions or solely to banks. Regulators should consider using their authority to extend it beyond the largest financial institutions, and into institutions that are smaller institutions that are nonetheless an integral part of the financial system.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">4) <b>No Self-Regulation</b>: There should be no self-regulation when it comes to setting capital standards. Large banks are asking that requirements to hold capital against derivatives exposure be calculated based on internal bank models, which include the use of Value-At-Risk (VAR) calculations. Internal bank models are prone to manipulation, and VAR fails precisely when a financial crisis hits. </p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">This is also why banks should not be allowed to net between trading and banking books. We believe that the more reasonable firewalls there are within and between institutions, the less interconnected the system is, and the less risk it poses to the real economy.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">In addition, we think that it is problematic to treat insured depository institutions (IDIs) that are subsidiaries of bank holding companies differently from the holding companies themselves. There is no reason for a 5% ratio for the IDIs and a 6% ratio for the holding company. This is an invitation to regulatory arbitrage.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Once again, we thank you for your attention to this matter. Inadequate capitalization of large financial institutions was at the heart of the financial crisis. Thank you for your work to address this critical problem.</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Sincerely,</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">Alan Grayson<br>
Member of Congress</p>
<p style="margin:0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 16.0px;font:16.0px 'Lucida Grande'">John Conyers<br>
Member of Congress</p><p></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div>