Finance committee leaders in Congress are seeking answers from federal regulators on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, have reached out to the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on their regulatory activities with respect to these two failed banks for the two years leading up to their collapse.
“Our oversight responsibilities to the American people require that we evaluate the root causes of these bank failures as well as the failures of U.S. regulatory agencies to prevent these collapses from occurring,” McHenry and Scott wrote in a letter to the heads of the Federal Reserve and FDIC. “These responsibilities include obtaining full information about what appears to be glaring bank mismanagement, fundamental lack of prudence in bank risk and balance sheet management, and regulators’ lack of basic supervision and enforcement of safety and soundness rules, regulations, and principles.”
The lawmakers are also requesting that the Federal Reserve and FDIC preserve all records, future and existing, related to this matter.
They are seeking responses to questions regarding the oversight of these banks by March 31.