Senate panel to consider 'too big to fail' report

Reuters: A U.S. Senate panel will meet next Thursday to discuss results of a much anticipated government study that looked at whether the biggest banks can borrow at lower interest rates because investors think they would be bailed out in a crisis.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Democrat, and Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, a Republican, who serve on the Senate Banking Committee, asked the Government Accountability Office more than a year ago to determine whether banks that are deemed "too big to fail" are able to borrow more cheaply than smaller banks can. Bank critics say that cheaper borrowing represents a market subsidy for the biggest institutions.

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