Senate Banking Panel Will Hold Hearing on 'Dangers of Default'

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing next week examining the possibility of the U.S. defaulting on its debt.

The hearing is scheduled for next Thursday morning, a week before the country is expected to hit its $16.7 trillion debt ceiling, unless Congress steps in to raise it. Lawmakers also remain in a standoff over the national budget, with the federal government already shut down for three days. 

Witnesses at next week’s hearing include the heads of several key industry groups: Frank Keating, president and chief executive of the American Bankers Association, Kenneth Bentsen, president of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Gary Thomas, president of the National Association of Realtors, and Paul Schott Stevens, president and chief executive of the Investment Company Institute.

Several top banking executives voiced additional concerns about the economic ramifications of a default on Wednesday, after a meeting with President Obama and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. The meeting was organized by Financial Services Forum, another trade group.