Late in 2018, two Trump-appointed banking regulators, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Randal Quarles and FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams, went on a nationwide tour to meet with regional bank examiners.
If you're looking for the roots of the banking crisis that took down Silicon Valley Bank and has rattled the entire financial sector for weeks, that's as good a place to start as any.
The officials' message to the examiners was: Back off.
