Voters Favor Increased Regulation of Financial Institutions: Poll

By David Baumann

February 10, 2017 at 05:50 AM

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An increasing number of Americans favor increased regulation of financial institutions despite efforts by credit unions and others who contend they are over-regulated, according to a new poll.

In the poll, conducted Feb. 2-6 by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, 50% of the 1,555 voters surveyed said they favored more government regulation of financial institutions, while 37% said such regulation hurts the economy. Some 13% said they had no position or failed to answer the question.

In November, 46% of those surveyed said they favored more financial institution regulation and 43% said such actions would hurt the economy.

The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

Quinnipiac officials said the financial institution regulation finding mirrors poll findings that showed Americans are reluctant to embrace the anti-regulatory fervor of the Trump administration.

"A litany of calls to 'hold your horses, Mr. President.' Americans want President Donald Trump to keep the regulatory reins on business, and voters call for a full stop to laying new pipelines full of oil," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Credit unions and allies on Capitol Hill have argued that overzealous regulatory enforcement by agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has increased costs to financial institutions and fueled consolidation of the industry.

The Quinnipiac poll found that Republicans favored less regulation, with 66% saying that rules hurt the economy and 22% saying they favored more regulation.

On the other hand, 74% of those Democrats surveyed favored more regulation, while 16% said that it hurt the economy.

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