Former President Bill Clinton has defended his decision to repeal Glass-Steagall, the Depression-era banking regulation that splits large financial institutions and is championed by liberals.

"Politicians — particularly now, in the aftermath of this crash — fear that anything they do will be held against them later if anything bad happens," Clinton told Inc. in an interview. "Look at all the grief I got for signing the bill that ended Glass-Steagall. There's not a single, solitary example that it had anything to do with the financial crash.”


Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley have backed reinstating the policy, which would require big banks to divide their commercial and investment practices.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton declined to take a position on the policy while campaigning in South Carolina last month.