Regulation and other oversight measures have not been strengthened enough to avoid another financial company failure the size of Lehman Brothers Holdings, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, Anton R. Valukas, examiner of the Lehman downfall, told the conference of the Council of Institutional Investors in Boston.
“I don’t see that things have changed greatly, and we cannot have another Lehman Brothers,” Mr. Valukas said Tuesday.
“The lesson we learned form Lehman is we have not yet learned that lesson,” said Mr. Valukas, chairman of the law firm Jenner & Block firm and, as examiner appointed by the U.S. trustee to the Lehman Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, author of a 2010 report on the company’s demise.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and other regulatory changes have not been enough to prevent such a massive failure, he said.
In addition, he cited regulations requiring banks to have more capital to cushion against financial distress because of banks’ concern it will harm their profits. He also said Congress cut the Securities and Exchange Commission budget because members “believe there is too much intrusion in American business.”