Steve Mnuchin: Need Regulation That Warrants Growth, Bank Lending
When it comes to rolling back regulations, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo that his main concern is to make sure that U.S. banks are lending.
“One of the biggest issues we talk about is,” he said, “you have the Consumer Protection Bureau, you have the OCC, you have the Fed, you have the FDIC. We want to make sure that these agencies work together and that we have good regulation… sound regulation, but we also have regulation that creates economic growth and makes sure that banks are lending.”
Mnuchin said the Volcker Rule has reduced market liquidity, and he would like to see more clarity around its definition.
“It’s not that we want to go back to proprietary trading, but we want clarity,” he said. “We want to make sure that banks can focus on customer business, that they can execute this with proper liquidity.”
Housing reform is also carefully being looked at he said.
In November, Mnuchin expressed a need to privatize mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during an interview on Mornings with Maria.
“What I’ve said is, you can’t leave these entities in the exact state that they are, under government control for the next four years,” he said. “This issue was just kicked down the road.”