Treasury Secretary Jack Lew praised the Dodd-Frank banking reform, saying it resolved the too-big-to-fail problem and ensured the future stability of the American financial system.
He spoke at the Delivering Alpha conference, presented by CNBC and Institutional Investor, first delivering prepared remarks then sitting for a one-on-one interview with CNBC afterwards.
While Lew's term has been quiet to date, he spoke enthusiastically about the Dodd-Frank bank reform bill that has stirred critics who claim it went too far.
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"Now if a financial firm fails, taxpayers will not have to bear the cost of the failure," he said. "Dodd-Frank did not stifle economic growth, it did not halt lending activity. It actually achieved just the opposite."