Wilbur Ross Quotes

There is no evidence that more regulation makes things better. The most highly regulated industry in America is commercial banking, and that didn't save those institutions from making terrible decisions.

Banking, I would argue, is the most heavily regulated industry in the world. Regulations don't solve things. Supervision solves things.

The regulators can’t do it. These institutions are just too large and complex.

Fannie Mae may have conformed to the rules but the rules didn’t conform to reality. A major bank or financial institution could meet every single regulatory requirement yet still be at the risk of collapse.

Financial regulators should be particularly attentive to the financial consequences of their actions.

I think we're fooling ourselves if we think that regulators are going to be able to outsmart the bankers. So, the task of designing regulatory reform is trying to make more or less foolproof regulation and that's one of the advantages of the systemic category.

Banks are concerned the central bank is imposing too many regulations. If the trend continues, we'll swing to heavy regulation. We need to have balanced regulation to encourage the economy.

Creating a regulatory system that reflects the modern-day realities of financial markets is not as difficult as it may appear.

This country, of course, needs fundamental reform of our financial regulatory system, as I, and many other financial institution executives, have publicly advocated for a considerable period.

It's the FSA and its plethora of EU bodies that's failed.

It is absolutely essential that bank supervisory bodies have the enforcement tools, the independence, and the political support to take tough enforcement measures when they are needed. Everything else—more uniform accounting standards, improved disclosure, and risk-based supervision—will count for little if supervisors lack effective powers of enforcement and the will to use them.

The Commission concludes that the banking supervisors failed to adequately and proactively identify and police the weaknesses of the banks and thrifts or their poor corporate governance and risk management, often maintaining satisfactory ratings on institutions until just before their collapse. This failure was caused by many factors, including beliefs that regulation was unduly burdensome, that financial institutions were capable of self-regulation, and that regulators should not interfere with activities reported as profitable.

… attempting to supervise the financial sector is a fool’s errand

We're charged by Congress with regulating financial institutions. We take that mission seriously. We are tough supervisors and regulators.

I support adjustments designed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of regulation without sacrificing safety and soundness or undermining macroprudential goals.

Opacity on extreme levels is not addressed anywhere, including Dodd-Frank.

There is a very real danger that financial regulation will become a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The Federal Reserve has always recognized the importance of allowing markets to work, and government oversight of financial firms will never be fully effective without the aid of strong market discipline.

The financial crisis is a stark reminder that transparency and disclosure are essential in today's marketplace.

Legislation must be passed which undoes the damage caused by excessive de-regulation. That means reinstalling the regulatory firewalls that were ripped down in 1999.

Money never seems to be interested in strengthening regulatory agencies, for example, but always in subverting them, in making them miss the danger signs in coal mines and in derivatives trading and in deep-sea oil wells.

They not only deregulated. They desupervised.

Strong banks want strong regulation.

If the large banks can do this without breaking the rules, then the rules should be revamped.

It satisfies the public clamor for a government supervision of the railroads at the same time that the supervision is almost entirely nominal.