Donald Trump Makes The Case Against Breaking Up Big Banks, Repealing Dodd-Frank

Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and presumed Republican nominee Donald Trump share opposing views on many issues, the most notable of which may appear to be breaking up large banks. While Sanders is campaigning on breaking up "too-big-to-fail" financial instiutions, Trump isn't even convinced that the same Wall Street banks that Sanders refers to even fall under the definition of "big" in the first place. "The big banks aren't big banks compared to other big banks," Trump told Reuters in an interview. "In other words if you look at the big banks in Germany or if you look at the big banks in China... if we make our big banks too much not big, they won't be able to compete." Trump noted that he has first hand experience with the world's largest bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. The bank has chosen his Trump Tower property in Manhattan to be its headquarters. According to some estimates, the China-based bank held more than $3.4 trillion in assets at the end of 2015. In fact, the world's second, third and fourth largest banks are China-based. Among the top 50 largest banks, 12 are from the China and only 6 are from the U.S. Trump also had harsh words to say about the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection act. He said that the act has "made it impossible for bankers to function" and made it "very hard for bankers to loan money." "The rules and regulations of Dodd Frank have made it so impossible to carry out business and to, especially with respect to lending to businesses who are going to employ a lot of people," Trump said. Trump added that while there are "some things" in Dodd-Frank that "can stay" it has been overall "very bad."