May. 13, 2023
Securities and Exchange Commission Official Comment File Number SR-NASDAQ-2023-005, Fifteen years ago we were told that many banks were “too big to allow to fail”, so the government bailed them out with billions of dollars. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank bill to limit future damage, and it worked for a decade. Then Congress in 2018 weakened Dodd-Frank, and now 5 years later we have three sizable bank failures due at least in part to taking too many risks. That Silicon Valley Bank reportedly paid huge bonuses right before collapsing is a further sign of mismanagement. Signature Bank is now on the auction block. First Republic Bank in California also had to be bailed out. It’s time to reinstate the full vigor of the original Dodd-Frank rules. Furthermore, bank executives shouldn’t be rewarded for failure, so recent bonuses should be forfeited in the event of bank collapse. Sincerely,David Williams