​NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz Remarks to NAFCU 2011 Congressional Caucus on NCUA Regulatory Modernization Initiative to Relieve Regulatory Burdens, Strengthen Safety and Soundness 

It’s a pleasure to join you here today.

I’m not sure if many of you know this, but in 1933, at the depth of the Great Depression, FDR came here, to this hotel, to write his First Inaugural Address.

That was the famous speech in which he said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  What people remember less is that a large portion of the speech was devoted to the banking industry, and his words were tough.

He said that our nation’s problems have occurred primarily – and I’m quoting FDR here, “because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed.”  He called bankers, quote, “unscrupulous money changers.”

FDR used those arguments to launch his 100 days agenda – including the Securities Act of 1933.

The goal was to identify what led to so many bank failures… and ultimately the Great Depression… and to prevent it from happening again...