The Treasury report is tinged with nostalgia for a world of numerous small banks that did not face material challenges to survive. That world is past; the number of small banks is declining and will continue to decline. The costs of regulation, and of technology, combined with the economies of scale, make small banking a business model on a downward slope that cannot be reversed. Rather than bemoaning the death of that world, regulators should be thinking about how to make transition into…

One way to assess Mr. Gensler's approach is to ask (i) what is the evidence that there is a lack of competition in the market for government securities; and (ii) why would increasing regulatory costs increase competition?

One might look to the effect of Dodd-Frank on the number of futures commission merchants. That number has continued to decline. See "" (July 1, 2015); "" (May 15, 2017); "" (January 10, 2022).

In short, increased regulation drives out a lot of market…

Had the securities and banking regulators allowed regulated broker-dealers and banks to provide custodial services, retail investors would not have been forced to custody through unregulated entities.

On many issues, it is not worthwhile for advisers to educate themselves on how to vote, and it is not a worthwhile expense for investors to bear. It is also questionable whether most investors are interested in how advisers vote, although interest groups certainly are. Thus, it makes sense to allow investment companies to adopt a policy whereby they may choose to make their votes public or not. Then, investors can decide by investing or redeeming whether they favor that particular policy.…