Comment from Tiana Bradley, Tiana Bradley

RE: Docket ID: FSOC-2010-0002 – Public Input for the Study Regarding the Implementation of the Prohibition on Proprietary Trading and Certain Relationships With Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds. Dear Members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council: I am writing as a concerned member of the American public who was affected by the financial meltdown and bailouts caused by Wall Street banks’ high-risk trading. I am submitting this comment pursuant to the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) request for comment on Sections 619-621 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Banks should be in the business of lending to America’s small businesses and families, not using our money to run a private casino where the House always wins. We never again want to be left on the hook for the bad bets Wall Street. Question: 4/9 We demand a strong Volcker Rule that: Doesn’t Let the Exceptions Swallow the Rule: Bankers and their lobbyists are already looking for ways to make narrow exceptions (like those for “market-making activities” and “risk-mitigating hedging”) into massive loopholes to maintain business as usual. If banks are profiting from swings in price, that’s proprietary trading. If the hedging trade is itself a high-risk investment, that should be prohibited, too. Question: 7 We demand a strong Volcker Rule that: Doesn’t Let Banks Bail Out Hedge Funds: Even though the Rule drastically limits banks’ involvement in risky buyout funds, it doesn’t end it completely. We know that even a small bank investment in these risky funds can lead to a big bank bailout that puts the system at risk: Bear Stearns ended up spending $3 billion bailing out a hedge fund it only had $35 million invested in – because it didn’t want to look bad. Regulators must write the anti-bailout provisions so they’re air-tight – and force banks to warn anyone who does hedge fund business with them that they won’t be able