Geithner’s Treasury a Treasure to Bankers

Timothy Geithner worked hard. No doubt about that.  And in difficult times.  Who’d want such a job?  But before wishing him godspeed in his departure it’s good to take a look at the opportunities missed.  Gretchen Morgenson tallies up the pattern of his friendship with big banks.

 

Back in 2010, Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, and Mr. Kaufman were co-sponsors of the Safe Banking Act, which proposed placing tough limits on banks’ size. If it had passed, it would have imposed a strict 10 percent cap on any bank holding company’s share of United States deposits and set a 6 percent limit on leverage.

The act was a way to begin reining in the huge institutions that had caused so much trouble in the credit debacle. It could also have protected taxpayers from having to make future rescues.

A good thing for Main Street, in other words.

But it was not to be. Among the bill’s most aggressive opponents was, yes, [Timothy Geithner’s]Treasury.

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