Big U.S. banks' ability to borrow at lower rates than smaller competitors has eroded since the 2007-2009 meltdown but could return in a crisis, a U.S. official said, previewing a highly anticipated report on whether banks remain "too big to fail." Most industry participants believe the 2010 Dodd-Frank law reduced the likelihood the federal government would bail out big banks again, said Lawrance Evans, director of financial markets at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The long-awaited report, which looks at whether size gives big banks an unfair advantage, is due on Thursday afternoon. Evans previewed it in planned remarks for a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday. Lawmakers, regulators and bank experts debate whether investors are willing to lend to the biggest banks at lower rates because they believe they would be bailed out in a crisis. Bank critics say this amounts to a subsidy for being "too big to fail." Evans said most of the GAO's models showed
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