Top U.S. financial officials on Tuesday outlined what’s likely to be the biggest regulatory overhaul of the banking sector in years, in an initiative aimed at addressing underlying issues that contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and other U.S. regional lenders.
“I anticipate the need to strengthen capital and liquidity standards” for banks with assets larger than $100 billion, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said in answering questions at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg said, in his testimony to the panel, that the failures of SVB, as Silicon Valley Bank is known, and Signature Bank “demonstrate the implications that banks with assets of $100 billion or more can have for financial stability. The prudential regulation of these institutions merits additional attention, particularly with respect to capital, liquidity and interest-rate risk.”
