On August 14, Mr. Cohen appeared on Fox Business' Risk & Reward with Deirdre Bolton to discuss what's next for regulation and how banks can help stop terrorism. Regarding the future of regulation, Mr. Cohen stressed the importance of communication, saying, “The banks have been guessing as to what the regulators want; that doesn't make sense for anybody. What there needs to be is an active dialogue.” When asked about the effects of higher rates on the financial services industry, Mr. Cohen argued that, “unless a bank has gorged on securities, so that it is at risk from an increase in rates, a somewhat-higher rate environment actually should be beneficial to the industry.”

Mr. Cohen, who led bank negotiations as part of the Iran-Contra hostage crisis, also touched on the role of banks in combating terrorism. “Banks are assigned a very critical role,” said Mr. Cohen. “They are basically the policemen of the financial system, to try and stop terrorism. It is an awesome responsibility.” When asked whether there are certain parts of the world in which it is too risky for banks to do business, he answered that excluding countries or regions is “not ultimately going to be a good thing for the global system—not just the U.S. system. You want to encourage very strong controls and systems, you don't want to, in effect, redline whole areas of the world.”