Bessent resets financial watchdog with deregulatory mandate

Source: Politico

12/11/2025 11:42 AM EST Updated: 12/11/2025 06:52 PM EST


Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday announced an overhaul to the structure of a panel of financial regulators and how it monitors emerging threats to financial stability, as part of his broader push to use the levers of government power to slash regulations.

In an introduction letter to the Financial Stability Oversight Council annual report released Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the council would shift its focus from “prophylactic” regulatory and supervisory policies to an approach aimed at removing red tape in areas like artificial intelligence, in a bid to spur economic growth.

“Regulations can stand in the way of growth and quality of life improvements that benefit all corners of American society,” said Bessent, who chairs the council, at Thursday’s meeting. The FSOC was established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to address potential risks to the U.S. financial system.

The new directive for FSOC is the latest phase in Bessent’s campaign to rein in financial rules and command the independent agencies that write them. His department has increasingly taken the role of “convener” as bank regulators move to pare back regulations.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/11/treasury-bessent-financial-stability-oversight-council-letter-00686574

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They are now systematically dismantling all the guardrails, circuit-breakers, and safety triggers that were put in place with Dodd-Frank after the 2008 economic collapse and "Great Recession".

Looks like they want to go out with a bang like it's 1929.

(I know Elizabeth Warren is probably going ballistic)