The heads of both Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank tried to influence the U.S. government to take a softer regulatory approach to the financial sector in the months prior to last week's crisis in the financial sector, as lawmakers ask whether recent regulatory easing made bank failures more likely.
On Jan. 23, First Republic CEO Mike Roffler sent a letter to both the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Company against a proposal to require smaller lenders to follow similar rules as systemically important banks, reports The Information. (U.S. regulators have yet to implement the proposal.)
