“They refuse to define the word abusive. And as a result, anything that they see out there they classify as abusive, whether it is or not,” he said. “They make the definition up as they go.”
This week, a leading consumer advocacy organization, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, assailed the Treasury report as a “gift to Wall Street.”
But Covington & Burling partner John Dugan, who served as Comptroller of Currency from 2005 to 2010, said the report could help the legislative prospects of reforms to the Dodd-Frank Act.
“The question is really what can get through the Senate and get the 60 votes that’s necessary to do this,” Dugan said.
“The report is creating a narrative that says it’s OK to make some changes, that we’re not necessarily trying to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he added. “It makes it more possible for people to say we can make this change without being just horrendously criticized by constituents for being soft on the banking industry or what have you.”
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