One of the Republican party’s most influential donors is pressing its presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, to make the case for tougher bank regulation that would go beyond the Dodd-Frank law.
Paul Singer, the billionaire hedge fund manager and chairman of Elliott Associates, recently sent copies of his quarterly investor letter to Romney officials, laying out the need for a tighter regulatory framework. The letter, which he distributes to investors and policy makers across the political spectrum, says Dodd-Frank is “ill-conceived” and could cause a financial “black hole”.
Instead, Mr Singer wants more stringent capital requirements and a regulatory framework that forces big banks to be more transparent about liabilities and off-balance sheet instruments. “Conservatives who believe in free markets should also believe in sound fair markets,” Mr Singer told the Financial Times. “Private reward and public risk is not what conservatives should want.”