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Martin O'Malley presidential campaign, 2016/Banking policy
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 Martin O'Malley |
Governor of Maryland (2007-2015) Mayor of Baltimore (1999-2007) |
 Democratic candidates: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
- During the fourth Democratic presidential primary debate on January 17, 2016, Martin O'Malley called for reforming the banking industry: “I have put forward a plan that would actually put cops back on the beat of Wall Street. I have put forward a plan that was heralded as very comprehensive and realistic. Look, if a bank robber robs a bank and all you do is slap him on the wrist, he's just going to keep robbing banks again. The same thing is true with people in suits. Secretary Clinton, I have a tremendous amount of respect for you, but for you to say there's no daylight on this between the three of us is also not true. I support reinstituting a modern version of Glass- Steagall that would include going after the shadow banks, requiring capital requirements that would force them to no longer put us on the hook for these sorts of things. In prior debates I've heard you even bring up -- I mean, now you bring up President Obama here in South Carolina in defense of the fact of your cozy relationship with Wall Street. In an earlier debate, I heard you bring up even the 9/11 victims to defend it. The truth of the matter is, Secretary Clinton, you do not go as far as reining in Wall Street as I would. And the fact of the matter is, the people of America deserve to have a president that's on their side, protecting the main street economy from excesses on Wall Street. And we're just as vulnerable today.””[2]
- At the Democratic debate on October 13, 2015, O'Malley called out Hillary Clinton for opposing the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, the Depression-era banking law repealed in 1999 that separated commercial and investment banking activities. O'Malley said, "Once we repealed Glass-Steagall...the big banks, the six of them, went from controlling, what, the equivalent of 15 percent of our GDP to now 65 percent of our GDP. And...Secretary Clinton's campaign put out a lot of reversals on positions on Keystone and many other things. But one of them that we still have a great difference on, Madam Secretary, is that you are not for Glass-Steagall. You are not for putting a firewall between this speculative, risky shadow banking behavior. I am, and the people of our country need a president who's on their side, willing to protect the Main Street economy from recklessness on Wall Street.”[3]
- O'Malley posted a white paper on his 2016 presidential campaign website detailing his banking and financial reform policy.[4]
- Appoint individuals to key positions in the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who "have strong backgrounds in fighting for the public interest and a proven ability to prosecute people who break the law."[4]
- Make the Director of the Division of Enforcement at the SEC a presidential appointee subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.[4]
- Institute a three-year revolving door ban for federal employees working in the financial policy and regulatory sectors.[4]
- Make the general counsel at the Federal Reserve and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York presidential appointees.[4]
- Require the board of governors of the Federal Reserve "to vote on all major enforcement and supervisory decisions" that the institution makes.[4]
- Double funding for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and SEC.[4]
- Establish a Division of Economic Crimes with the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.[4]
- Implement a points accrual system for perpetrators of financial crimes that could ultimately lead to "the revocation of an entity's right to operate."[4]
- Require institutions to admit guilt for a "major crime or violation of a law... so that they face the full ramifications of parallel civil and criminal proceedings."[4]
- Require the Department of Justice to explain why a deferred prosecution agreement or non-prosecution agreement is being used in cases with "significant economic crimes."[4]
- Require SEC commissioners to publicly vote on waivers to culpable financial institutions and to explain "in detail" the reasoning for their vote.[4]
- Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act.[4]
- Enforce regulations requiring large banks produce a "credible" living will to be used in the event of bankruptcy.[4]
- Require financial institutions "with more than $500 billion in assets to have capital reserves of not less than 15 percent."[4]
- Implement a financial transaction tax to disincentivize high-frequency trading.[4]
- Establish a fiduciary standard for mortgage, auto loan and student loan brokers based on similar efforts in California and Washington.[4]
- On July 9, 2015, O'Malley wrote an open letter to Wall Street "megabanks" announcing, "I have called for significant structural and accountability reforms—like reinstating Glass-Steagall and increasing enforcement at the SEC, DOJ, and other agencies and departments—to prevent another economic crash and protect hard-working families from losing their jobs, homes, and life savings once again." O'Malley added, "I know that many of you have tried to dismiss and undermine my calls for stronger reforms as 'anti-capitalist.' Let me be clear – the ongoing reckless behavior of your megabanks isn’t capitalism – it’s the antithesis of it. True capitalism requires a level playing field on which everyone plays by the same set of rules. True capitalism requires competition. True capitalism means that just as businesses and banks can succeed – they can also fail."[5]
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "Martin O'Malley Suspends Presidential Campaign," February 1, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The 4th Democratic debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant," January 17, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The CNN Democratic debate transcript, annotated," October 13, 2015
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 Martin O'Malley for President, "Protecting the American Dream from Another Wall Street Crash," accessed December 3, 2015
- ↑ Business Insider, "Presidential candidate Martin O'Malley releases scathing open letter to Wall Street: 'I will not let up on you,'" July 9, 2015
