Voice of America
25 Mar 2023, 06:05 GMT+10
WASHINGTON - The multi-regulator U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) agreed Friday that the U.S. banking system remains 'sound and resilient' despite stress on some institutions, the U.S. Treasury said in its latest statement to calm jittery markets and bank depositors.
In a readout of a closed meeting chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the department said that FSOC participants heard a presentation on market developments from the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
'The Council discussed current conditions in the banking sector and noted that while some institutions have come under stress, the U.S. banking system remains sound and resilient,' the Treasury said in a statement.
The videoconference meeting came as markets continued to seesaw amid concerns that a two-week-old banking crisis sparked by the failures of Silicon Valley Bank SIVB.O and Signature Bank SBNY.O could worsen, spreading more runs on smaller banks
No media source currently available
The body of financial regulators, led by Yellen and including the heads of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory agencies, last met March 12.
That was the same day that the FDIC, Fed and Treasury announced emergency actions to backstop all deposits in the two failed banks and create a new Fed lending facility to boost liquidity for all banks.
Two prominent House of Representatives Republicans demanded Friday that Yellen provide them with additional information about the March 12 meeting, including unredacted minutes, votes, details on timing and bank stress test results.
'The events that have transpired over the last 12 days related to both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the ensuing market instability, and your role raise a number of questions for policymakers,' wrote Representatives Bill Huizenga and Andy Barr who chair House Financial Services subcommittees, in a letter to Yellen.
They added that the basis of the Treasury, Fed and FDIC determinations in the SVB and Signature cases 'are of particular importance.'
The Friday FSOC meeting came as global banking contagion fears again caused European bank stocks to fall sharply, with Deutsche Bank and UBS knocked by worries that regulators and central banks have not yet contained the worst shock to the sector since the 2008 global financial crisis.
But on Wall Street, shares recovered from an earlier sell-off as three Federal Reserve bank presidents said in separate remarks that there was no indication that financial stress was worsening this week, allowing them to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point.
Yellen again sought to calm fears of further bank deposit runs Thursday, telling U.S. lawmakers that she was prepared to repeat actions taken in the Silicon Valley and Signature Bank failures to safeguard uninsured bank deposits if failures threatened more deposit runs.
Those actions to invoke 'systemic risk exceptions' were taken by Yellen, President Joe Biden, the FDIC, and the Fed, which supervised Silicon Valley and Signature.
Get a daily dose of Europe Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Europe Sun.
More InformationBEIJING, China: China's national soccer team may struggle to stir excitement, but its humanoid robots are drawing cheers — and not...
]LONDON, U.K.: A World Health Organization (WHO) expert group investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic released its final...
DOVER, Delaware: California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken legal aim at Fox News, accusing the network of deliberately distorting...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany has become the latest country to challenge Chinese AI firm DeepSeek over its data practices, as pressure...
TORONTO, Canada: Harvard University and the University of Toronto have created a backup plan to ensure Harvard graduate students continue...
JERUSALEM, Israel: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel's success in the war with Iran could open the door to...
Vancouver, Canada: A high-stakes legal showdown is brewing in the world of athleisure. Lululemon, the Canadian brand known for its...
LONDON, U.K.: British oil giant Shell has denied reports that it is in talks to acquire rival oil company BP. The Wall Street Journal...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stock markets closed firmly in positive territory to start the week Monday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that he was halting trade discussions with Canada due to its decision...
LONDON, U.K.: A little-known investment fund based in the United Arab Emirates has emerged as the most prominent public backer of U.S....
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Across the U.S., a growing number of people are taking obesity treatment into their own hands — literally....