Dodd says banks make the case for reform

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WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- Former Sen. Christopher Dodd said banks were making the strongest case for the U.S. financial overhaul bill passed into law two years ago.

"Consider the recent revelation that one bank has admitted and others are being investigated for manipulating Libor, the interbank loan rate. Another bank has suffered a $6 billion trading loss because of bad actors," Dodd wrote in an opinion piece published in Politico Monday.

"These misdeeds and more are making the strongest case for implementing Dodd-Frank," wrote Dodd a former Democratic senator from Connecticut using the often-used casual name given to the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was largely a collaborative effort between Dodd, the White House and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

Dodd said a recent Lake Research Partners survey, taken near the two-year anniversary of the bill, found that 73 percent of likely U.S. voters supported tighter financial regulations.

He also noted those "who either had a vested interest in seeing them (the provisions) overturned or believed that a repeal of Dodd-Frank is good politics" would spend considerable efforts "to kill it."

"Opponents have since spent millions to stall implementation of new financial rules -- while attempting to build support for repeal," Dodd said.

"Critics largely forget that U.S. tax dollars rescued the economy from the brink of collapse in 2008. Putting basic rules in place to prevent a crisis of this magnitude from being repeated was not only responsible -- it was essential," Dodd said.