Signature’s Frank Not Too Big To Fail

Frankly, does the collapse of Signature & SVB show that Barney “Fife” Frank, co-author of the 2008 Dodd-Frank “too big to fail” reform law, was full of you know what?

So suggests the WSJ’s editors in their “The Banking Education of Barney Frank.” Recall how Mr. Frank retired from Congress still railing at capitalism only to sign on the board of Signature back well before it went, well, belly up. Noted the op ed: “Life is full of irony, but it’s hard to think of a richer one than Barney Frank sitting on the board of failed Signature Bank. The former Congressman who was the scourge of Wall Street [ala today’s Pocahontas], the co-author of the Dodd-Frank Act that was supposed to keep the banking system safe [after the industry’s 2008 meltdown], wasn’t able to prevent his bank from becoming one of the first casualties of the latest bank panic. It’s amusing to think of Mr. Frank cashing a check as a bank director, but then even left-wing former Congressmen have to make a living. And in Mr. Frank’s case it has been a nice one, with cash compensation of $121,750 & stock awards of $180,182 in 2022 alone. He’s been on the board since 2015.”

In recent interviews with left-leaning MSM, Frank blames Pres Biden’s “regulators” for shutting his bank down prematurely & presumably because it was so heavily invested in the “crypto” investments. As the editors mused: “We sympathize with Mr. Frank because the Biden Administration really does want to purge the US banking system of any dealings with crypto companies. It may be that the regulators decided to roll up Signature Bank because of its crypto association. It wouldn’t be the first time regulators saw an opening in a crisis to achieve a political goal by other means. If Mr. Frank is right, he now knows how hundreds of thousands of other people in business feel when regulators panic for political reasons & look for businesses to … blame.”

Davd Soul