Federal Reserve's Kashkari snags Bernanke in push on too-big-to-fail

By Olivia Oran

(Reuters) - Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari, who is pushing the government to consider breaking up the country's biggest banks, has booked former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to speak at his second conference.

Bernanke, who helmed the U.S. central bank through the worst financial crisis in modern times in 2007-2008, will speak at a panel on May 16 at a symposium as part of Kashkari's initiative to end "too big to fail," according to a press release on Tuesday.

Kashkari held his first symposium on Monday at his bank's Minneapolis headquarters to offer ways to prevent bank bailouts. He plans to release a proposal with solutions by the end of the year.

Among the ideas discussed at the conference were requiring banks to hold more capital, breaking up any bank with more than $350 billion in assets, imposing fees on banks seen as risky, and changing bank governance.

Kashkari, a former top Treasury Department official who became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis earlier this year, said in February that bolder options are needed beyond regulation that requires each bank to outline a plan to unwind themselves if they fail, a measure known as a living will.

Bernanke is currently a fellow in residence at the Brookings Institute. He served as the chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve from February 2006 to January 2014.

He will speak on a panel alongside Richard Herring, a finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, entitled "Enhancements/Alternatives to DFA Resolution," a reference to living wills.

(Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; additional reporting by Ann Saphir)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• S&P, Nasdaq futures slip as markets await Iran sanctions, Nvidia results
• Kremlin says British missile help for Ukraine 'adds fuel to the fire'
• JPMorgan stays constructive on stocks, expects a grind higher with rotation