The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) is toasting the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for agreeing to examine the economic benefit that megabanks derive from their too-big-to-fail status.
In a news release Friday, the ICBA thanked the GAO for agreeing to study how banks with assets of $500 billion or more benefit from the belief that the government would not let them fail in a crisis. ICBA's chief executive, Camden Fine, said he was "encouraged" by the GAO's decision, and that the report will "help taxpayers better understand how these institutions affect our financial system and economy."
The ICBA also urged lawmakers and regulators to further address the issue. Doing so "will ensure that free-market principles apply across the entire financial system and address market distortions fostered by government involvement and subsidies of the largest megabanks," the ICBA said in the news release.
In late December, the Senate
Vitter and Brown asked the agency in a Jan. 1
The GAO does not have an expected release date for the study, an agency spokesman said.