U.S. Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and Maxine Waters (D-CA), the committee’s ranking member, announced that the committee on the failures Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank.
The hearing, which will feature testimony from federal financial regulators, will be held on March 29. Witnesses will include Martin Gruenberg, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Michael Barr, vice chair for supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Also, additional witnesses may be added as the hearing date approaches.
“The House Financial Services Committee is committed to getting to the bottom of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank,” McHenry and Waters said in a joint statement. “This hearing will allow us to begin to understand why and how these banks failed. As Chairman and Ranking Member, we take our oversight duties seriously. We are working around the clock to deliver answers to the American people in order to protect depositors, promote the safety and soundness of America’s banks, and strengthen our financial system. We will conduct this hearing without fear or favor to get the answers the American people deserve.”
The committee leaders said they may hold additional hearings after this initial hearing, as appropriate.
Waters and McHenry have also called on the Government and Accountability Office (GAO) \to begin an investigation into the collapse of these banks. The study should examine the factors that led to mismanagement of both banks, as well as any regulatory or examination failures.
“The House Financial Services Committee is working responsibly to get to the bottom of what happened over the last week. We are interested in determining whether there are additional banks like the two described above that have similar asset growth, deposit concentration, and maturity mismatches within their portfolios. We recognize this evaluation and investigation may take some time. We ask that you provide an interim report on your findings no later than April 28, 2023,” they wrote to the GAO.