U.S. Chamber Welcomes Bipartisan Step On Financial Regulatory Reform

Continues Call for Removing Provisions in Bill that Harm Main Street Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today welcomed bipartisan progress made by Sens. Richard Shelby and Christopher Dodd to eliminate a $50 billion bailout fund from the financial regulatory reform bill. The exclusion of the fund from legislation, is one of five proposed fixes the Chamber called on last month in a letter to the full Senate. It is also a significant step towards effective reforms that will help rather than hinder the American economic recovery.

"We've been calling for a bipartisan bill, and today's compromise on resolution authority is a step in the right direction," said David Hirschman, president and CEO of the Chamber's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (CCMC). "By eliminating the pre-paid bailout fund, Senators Shelby and Dodd have sent a signal that the era of "too big to fail" is over. This compromise allows businesses to put billions of dollars to work creating jobs and economic growth, benefitting the entire economy. Congress should continue to work to address flawed provisions that would hurt American businesses that had nothing to do with the financial crisis."

"The Chamber has also called for predictable, transparent rules on how creditors will be treated during the resolution process," said Hirschmann. "We also welcome steps in this compromise to ensure that how creditors are treated during the resolution of a failing firm mirrors the bankruptcy process. We continue to call on Congress to make additional changes to ensure that the order of creditors for failing firms is clear to all parties and cannot be politicized."

The U.S. Chamber has long called for modernizing our financial regulatory system to protect consumers, help ensure abundant, affordable access to capital for individuals and businesses, and provide the basis of new economic growth to help create millions of jobs. In the areas of systemic risk and resolution authority, the Chamber continues to call for the removal of non-financial companies from the scope of systemic risk portions of the bill and for a quicker unwinding process if a company is placed in the resolution authority regime. Keeping companies under resolution authority for up to 5 years may create zombie companies and create competitive disadvantages and unnecessary economic dislocations.

Since its inception three years ago, the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness has led a bipartisan effort to modernize and strengthen the outmoded regulatory systems that have governed our capital markets. The CCMC is committed to working aggressively with the administration, Congress, and global leaders to implement reforms to strengthen the economy, restore investor confidence, and ensure well-functioning capital markets.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

# # #