- President Joe Biden urged federal regulators to take several steps to protect the banking system after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
- Biden has said he can pass all the reforms he wants under existing law.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the Summit for Democracy, titled “Delivering Democracy on Global Challenges,” at the Eisenhower Administration Office Building in Washington, U.S., March 29, 2023. During the summit, Biden said he would receive $95. billion from Congress to improve democracy.
Yuri Kripas | Bloomberg | Good pictures
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday urged federal regulators to take several reforms to protect the banking system following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
In a White House fact sheet on Thursday, Biden’s proposals “fit in with his recent effort to strengthen oversight and regulation of big banks so that we are not in this position again.” The administration wants regulators to take steps to restore safety for banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion and strengthen oversight of financial institutions.
“Each of these items can be accomplished under existing law,” the White House said.
Several plans approved by the White House are already under consideration, according to banking regulators who testified this week before two congressional committees.
These include stricter rules for measuring liquidity at mid-sized banks, which have combined assets of more than $100 billion but less than $250 billion.
While the Trump-era deregulation bill passed in 2018 placed limits on how much regulators could impose on small banks, it gave them broad discretion on how to adjust bank capital requirements for the next category.
The administration is encouraging bank regulators to reimpose liquidity rules under the Dodd-Frank Act. Liquidity problems contributed to SVB’s failure and spread to other banks.
This is a growing story. Check back for updates.
