Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg released a series of financial regulation proposals Tuesday that represent a sharp leftward tack for the Wall Street billionaire, more closely aligning himself with progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
The regulations include a 0.1% transactions tax, which is sure to elicit negative reactions from pro-business groups.
Bloomberg, who has been criticized by progressives for his close ties to Wall Street, also proposed merging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and regulating Wall Street in a way that ensures the financial system is “strong enough to weather crises without harming the broader economy or requiring taxpayer bailouts.”
The former New York mayor said he would work with Congress to introduce the tax on all transactions, including stocks, bonds and payments on derivative contracts, and that it would be phased in gradually starting at 0.02%, according to the proposal released Tuesday. He would also support measures such as setting a speed limit to curb harmful types of trading.
(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
Proponents of the tax say it could help curb high-frequency trading and speculative betting, which can lead to chaotic swings in the market. Supporters also point to the significant revenue it could generate: a 0.1% tax could raise nearly $777 billion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Cowen & Co. Senior Policy Analyst Jaret Seiberg said in a note to clients on Tuesday that Bloomberg’s proposal seems to be designed to appeal to mainstream Democratic voters.
“It is inconceivable that a candidate could win without endorsing many of the ideas in the plan,” Seiberg wrote. “The key with Bloomberg for financials is that he is a pragmatist who understands how financial markets work. We believe that is more important that any specific plan he might endorse.”
The plan is likely to elicit criticism from pro-business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Modern Markets Initiative. The Chamber has said financial transaction taxes would cause mortgage fees to rise and would increase the cost of hedging transactions that farmers, energy firms and transportation companies use to reduce risk. The Modern Markets Initiative has called financial transactions taxes a “tax on retirement.”
Bloomberg also called for the reversal of Trump administration rollbacks by toughening Volcker Rule restrictions, setting higher capital requirements at financial firms and strengthening stress tests meant to ensure banks can withstand an economic downturn, according the plan.