When a billionaire is farther to the left than most of the Democratic party, that tells you something:
Big banks should hope that Kenneth C. Griffin, the founder and chief executive of Citadel, never gets his hands on a magic wand.
“We don’t have a good legal justification for breaking up the banking system,” Mr. Griffin said during a discussion of universal banks, the large banks that offer an array of financial products and services. “But if I could wave a magic wand, I’d break up the banking system.”
Mr. Griffin, who has previously criticized the way big banks spent their money during the credit boom, spoke during DealBook’s Opportunities for Tomorrow Conference on Tuesday, where he discussed regulation and other topics with the columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin. Mr. Griffin said the size of some of Wall Street’s largest institutions had created management challenges and compliance and regulatory difficulties.
Asked whether the big banks had gotten too big to fail, or too big to manage, Mr. Griffin said, “They’re both.” When asked about how he’d break up some of Wall Street’s largest institutions, Griffin suggested pulling the securities businesses out of the banking system.
“I would, in a sense, de-bank Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley,” Mr. Griffin said.
Elizabeth Warren said much the same thing as Griffen said in a speech at a seperate event. Shouldn’t breaking up the banks be a major campaign issue in the 2014 and 2016 elections? Wonder what Hillary thinks?
We have the magic wand. The Sherman Act is as applicable to banks as any other monopoly. The problem is Holder. This sure ain’t gonna happen while Obama is out courting big donors again for 2014/2016.
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act hasn’t been enforced against any financial entity by either political party since Reagan was elected. It was Bill Clinton who assured that it would never be used against the banks when he allowed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall (sp) Act. Hands down Bill Clinton was the worst Democratic president in history.