Business

Lawmakers turn the screws on big banks

Lawmakers are dialing up the heat on big banks.

Yesterday, five senators fired off a letter to bank regulators urging them to finish writing Dodd-Frank regulations that would restrict leverage and force firms to bolster their capital cushions in the event of another financial meltdown.

The letter was signed by a bipartisan group that included Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), David Vitter (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Regulators, including the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, received a copy of the letter.

It comes days after draft legislation sponsored by two of the senators, Brown and Vitter, proposing stricter capital requirements was leaked late Friday.

That bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate sometime later this month.

Even so, opponents believe the Brown-Vitter proposal doesn’t have much of chance of passing, if introduced.