WASHINGTON — A pair of banking senators from both sides of the aisle pressed President Joe Biden to appoint an independent investigator to further look into the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank and Signature Bank.
Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that recent reports from the
"Self-reflection, while appreciated, is insufficient to ensure stressors to our financial system of this magnitude are not repeated," the lawmakers said. "Oversight efforts will benefit from a comprehensive examination spanning both federal and state financial regulators, as well as elsewhere in the federal government where response efforts are taking place."
The independent investigation should also consider "the ongoing work to hold bank executives accountable."
While Congress remains deeply divided over many issues,
"An outside, independent review of the supervisory and management errors that contributed to the failures would be a vital step toward restoring confidence in the banking system and preventing future failures," Tester and Tillis wrote. "This thorough assessment will ultimately benefit taxpayers, policymakers, as well as regulators at the federal and state level and ensure well-run banks are not asked to once more make up for losses attributable to risky behavior by reckless executives and lackluster agency oversight."
