Exclusive Details on Michael Bloomberg’s Plan to Rein In Wall Street
Mike BloombergCredit...Jeff Kowalsky/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Feb. 18, 2020Updated 8:45 a.m. ET
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Bloomberg leans left and takes aim at Wall Street
Exclusive: We’re the first to report Mike Bloomberg’s proposals for changing how the financial industry is regulated, which he is planning to announce this morning. The plan features ideas that wouldn’t be out of place for Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Among Mr. Bloomberg’s proposals:
• A financial transactions tax of 0.1 percent
• Toughening banking regulations like the Volcker Rule and forcing lenders to hold more in reserve against losses
• Having the Justice Department create a dedicated team to fight corporate crime and “encouraging prosecutors to pursue individuals, not only corporations, for infractions”
• Merging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• Strengthening the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and “expanding its jurisdiction to include auto lending and credit reporting”
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• Automatically enrolling borrowers of student loans into income-based repayment schemes and capping payments
Many of the proposals are a reversal from Mr. Bloomberg’s previous stance on financial regulation. In 2011, he complained that Democrats were taking “
punitive actions” against Wall Street that could harm the economy. And comments he made in 2015 linking the financial crisis to the end of banks’ so-called redlining practices have
drawn fierce criticism in recent days.
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It’s a sign of how far left Democratic presidential hopefuls feel they need to go to succeed in this year’s primary — even with a multibillion-dollar war chest. Mr. Bloomberg’s financial transactions tax plan is remarkably similar to one that
has the backing of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Progressive critics are likely to argue that it doesn’t go far enough. Many Democrats have proposed some sort of wealth tax, while Ms. Warren has called for
a complete overhaul of the private equity industry and Mr. Sanders wants to
break up the big banks.
Bloomberg’s campaign insists he isn’t flip-flopping: On the Volcker Rule, for instance, a spokeswoman said: “When it was introduced, as now, Mike was skeptical of regulators’ ability to divine traders’ intent.” His new plan would focus “on the outcome of speculative trading — big gains and losses — rather than on traders’ intent.”

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nytimes.com/dealbook.