Big U.S. banks snagged another big victory Wednesday as federal regulators voted to ease one of the industry’s most despised regulations.
The Federal Reserve approved sweeping changes to the “Volcker Rule,” which was established after the global financial crisis to prevent taxpayer-insured banks from making some risky financial bets. Banks, which have complained for years that the rule is too cumbersome and time-consuming, will gain new flexibility in deciding when a trade is too risky if the proposal is finalized.
“Our goal is to replace overly complex and inefficient requirements with a more streamlined set of requirements,” said Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powell.
Consumer advocates warn that even a slight easing of the standards could open the door for the type of risky trading that contributed to the near collapse of the economy a decade ago.
What could possibly go wrong?
* Carla Marinucci reports that Republicans in the Golden State have achieved a milestone:
The state that spawned the “Reagan Revolution’’ and Richard M. Nixon just experienced a watershed moment — the California Republican Party was officially relegated to third-party status.
In the culmination of the withered state GOP’s long slide toward near-political irrelevance here, new voter registration data released this week show the once-robust party trails behind both Democrats and “no party preference” in the nation’s most populous state. The California Republican Party is now outnumbered by independent voters by 73,000, according to Political Data Inc., which tabulates voter file data from county registrars.
OK, but they’ve got superstars like Devin Nunes ready to bring them back.
* Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng take you behind the scenes of the brutal thunderdome of backstabbing and terror that is the White House communication operation.