Bernie Sanders unveils bill to break up 'too big to fail' banks

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) on Wednesday proposed legislation that would dismantle behemoth banks, a move that could pressure Hillary Clinton to ratchet up her populist rhetoric as the White House race gets underway.

Entitled the "Too Big To Fail, Too Big To Exist Act," the bill would require federal regulators to draw up a list of banks whose collapses would devastate the entire economy. The Treasury would then have one year to break up those institutions. In a statement, Sanders said the list would initially include at least eight banks — including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase — and possibly more.

"No single financial institution should be so large that its failure would cause catastrophic risk to millions of Americans or to our nation's economic wellbeing," Sanders, who recently announced he will compete in the Democratic presidential primary contest, said at a press conference unveiling the legislation.

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"If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist and that is the bottom line," he added.

Sanders has introduced similar legislation in the past, but this is the first time he's done so as a presidential candidate.