"Big Wall Street megabanks are still putting American taxpayers at risk.
Big banking institutions like Bank of America and Citibank hold more investments than they have cash on hand to cover. That means that if those assets lose their value, the banks can't recover on their own. And when a bank's failure means the failure of the American economy, the taxpayers are forced to step in.
It's called "Too Big to Fail." It should be called "too risky for the American economy" and "too reckless to continue."
This is the practice that brought our economy to the brink once before. That's why I have a new, bipartisan plan to end Too Big to Fail, and break up Wall Street megabanks for good. My plan would require that banks carry enough capital to cover their own losses, or force them to downsize so that they are no longer a risk to the American economy.
This is a commonsense solution—but I need all of us to help. The petition I started to Congress says:
Give Wall Street megabanks a choice: Carry enough capital to cover your own losses, or downsize until you're no longer a threat to American taxpayers."
Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator (Ohio):
"Big Wall Street megabanks are still putting American taxpayers at risk.
Big banking institutions like Bank of America and Citibank hold more investments than they have cash on hand to cover. That means that if those assets lose their value, the banks can't recover on their own. And when a bank's failure means the failure of the American economy, the taxpayers are forced to step in.
It's called "Too Big to Fail." It should be called "too risky for the American economy" and "too reckless to continue."
This is the practice that brought our economy to the brink once before. That's why I have a new, bipartisan plan to end Too Big to Fail, and break up Wall Street megabanks for good. My plan would require that banks carry enough capital to cover their own losses, or force them to downsize so that they are no longer a risk to the American economy.
This is a commonsense solution—but I need all of us to help. The petition I started to Congress says:
Give Wall Street megabanks a choice: Carry enough capital to cover your own losses, or downsize until you're no longer a threat to American taxpayers."