They have assets greater than most Americans, and yet they are whimpering that it is not enough compared with some in Silicon Valley.
Banks with assets greater than $50 billion are automatically placed in this category, including Bank of America and the former investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
That was important because the S.E.C. requires companies with 500 shareholders and assets greater than $10 million to file financial statements and most of the other information they would have to disclose in a public share offering.
But in a concession, France agreed that only banks holding more than 30 billion euros in assets, or assets greater than 20 percent of their country's gross domestic product, would be directly regulated by the central bank.
To reach the deal, France agreed to a formula where only banks holding €30 billion ($39 billion) in assets, or holding assets greater than 20 percent of their country's gross domestic product, would be directly regulated by the central bank.
In most cases, only banks holding assets worth 30 billion euros, or $40 billion, or those holding assets greater than 20 percent of their country's gross domestic product would be directly regulated by the European Central Bank.
