Republicans and Democrats Agree: We Hate Wall Street

Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and others have attacked banks; industry considers its response

By Anupreeta Das and Emily Glazer, WSJ
Updated Jan. 13, 2016 5:46 a.m. ET

Wall Street is confronting a presidential election unlike any it has seen: One in which the banking industry is denounced by candidates on the left and the right.

The banker-bashing is prompting uncertainty and disagreement in the industry about how, or whether, to respond.

Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders has said “fraud is the business model of Wall Street,” while party front-runner Hillary Clinton has vowed to rein in risky financial activity.

In the Republican Party, where financial firms typically can count on a friend, Sen. Marco Rubio has said big banks have been “bragging” that they are too big to fail and that he would repeal the law that grants that status. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has said Wall Street needs “a good ethics lesson...on a regular basis.” Sen. Ted Cruz has said he wouldn’t bail out “rich Wall Street banks.” Even former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who worked at Lehman Brothers and Barclays PLC, has said banks should be required to hold even more capital.

The bashfest has put banks in a quandary: Do they defend themselves or sit it out?

(More here.)