The U.S. Chamber is intensifying its opposition to a partisan Senate financial regulatory reform bill as it heads for a vote in the full Senate as early as this week.

“We must fix our broken system--but merely having a bill for its own sake is not lasting reform,” said David Hirschmann, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (CCMC). “We must make sure that the reforms put in place will enhance transparency, improve our markets, protect consumers, and create a climate where American businesses can thrive again.”

In a letter sent to Senate Banking Committee members on the day they approved the bill, the Chamber outlined its opposition to several provisions, including the creation of a consumer financial protection bureau that would reduce access to credit for businesses and consumers and potential regulation of non-financial companies that use financing arms.

The bill also contains provisions that the Chamber says would amount to “the federalization of corporate governance,” including giving labor unions and other narrow-interest shareholders the power to leverage their agendas at the expense of other shareholders through so-called proxy access provisions. According to the Chamber, retail investors should have the same right and ability to participate in corporate elections as any large, activist investor.

The Chamber is also concerned with provisions that would effectively create a “permanent bailout fund” by a providing an organized wind-down mechanism--including emergency funds--for failing institutions.

The Chamber supports comprehensive, bipartisan reform that does the following: strikes the right balance between appropriate regulation and unnecessary restraints on capital formation; untangles, streamlines, and coordinates the alphabet soup of regulators who have duplicative and overlapping authority; and allows for innovation and competition in the capital markets, as well as reasonable risk taking. Most importantly, according to the Chamber, changes must be aimed squarely at helping Main Street. Making credit available to small businesses and entrepreneurs is essential to a sustainable recovery.

The Chamber is mobilizing its massive grassroots network to contact and urge their senators to come together to form bipartisan comprehensive legislation that modernizes the entire regulatory structure and protects consumers without impairing U.S. job growth. The current bill fails to achieve these objectives, Hirschmann said. “It's time for the Senate to put politics aside and focus on restoring confidence and certainty in our financial markets, fix our broken regulatory structure, and help us get back on track toward a strong economy.”

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