"Who broke the law? Cohn says in defending the role of Wall Street in the crisis

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former US President Donald Trump's economic advisor Gary Cohn on Monday approved Wall Street bankers, saying lenders and the rules needed to make the system stronger in its aftermath.

In a large-scale conversation at an event organized by Reuters Breakingviews that was linked to the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Cohn's comments have mostly traced the sentiment of Wall Street bankers and investors. 39, other rich Americans collapsed the market and the economic downturn that followed.

He also congratulated JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon, who last week made waves saying he could beat Trump in an election. Calling Dimon a "phenomenal" choice, Cohn said, "Jamie would be a spectacular president … After seeing the inside of the oval office and having worked there hours and hours a day, it's in many ways very similar to the office management. global multi-national complex (enterprise). "

Shortly after making his comments, Dimon said he was not running as president.

Once second-in-command of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Cohn argued that no high-ranking banker should have gone to jail for his role in the crisis because he was not necessarily doing anything that it is illegal, despite the demands of populist movements like Occupy Wall Street.

In defending his fellow bankers, who are often accused of causing and aggravating the crisis, Cohn said borrowers have also played a role in their financial catastrophes.

"Who broke the law? I just want to know who you think you have broken the law, "said Cohn. "Was the waitress from Las Vegas, who had six houses at 100% without income, careless and stupid? Or was the banker reckless and stupid?

Cohn also mentioned former Lehman CEO Dick Fuld, who lost much of his net worth when his company filed for bankruptcy. "Who defrauded Dick Fuld? Himself? "

In the aftermath of the crisis, Cohn said regulators and legislators went too far in creating restrictions that forced banks to expand because only the big guys could afford to pay for additional monitoring.

He criticized Elizabeth Warren, a prominent Democratic senator who often attacks big banks, for using a simplistic measure of the profitability of the sector and said that the rules of the Dodd-Frank reform package only strengthen the competitive position of the big banks .

"We have not finished" too big to fail, "said Cohn. "We have established rules and regulations that have made (big banks) bigger. Congratulations."

After 26 years at Goldman, Mr. Cohn left Wall Street for Washington and the Trump administration because he feared that regulation and taxes would reduce growth in the United States, he said.

"We had to be competitive with the rest of the world," said Cohn. He spent a little more than a year at the White House and left after rejecting a major revision of Trump, signed in December. "We now have taxes at a point where we are globally competitive at 21%."

Since leaving Trump's administration in March, Cohn has spent time with his family and has explored business opportunities, he said.

Cohn, 58, resigned after trying to soften Trump's plans for high steel and aluminum prices. Since its departure, the administration has strengthened its protectionist position by adopting tariffs against China, the European Union and other major trading partners.

Trump stepped up its trade war with China by imposing tariffs of 10% on about 200 billion dollars of Chinese imports.

Cohn defended Trump's stance against China, saying the Asian country was taking advantage of the United States.

"If we are not paid specifically by the Chinese for what we have invented and the Chinese are only stealing it and preventing it, the global economy, globalization is not working," Cohn said.