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Biden calls for tougher penalties for execs of failed banks

Biden calls for tougher penalties for execs of failed banks
ERIKA: BACK TO THE BANKING CRISIS AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF SILICON VALLEY BANK PRESIDENT BIDEN ASSISTS THAT THE ACTING SYSTEM IS SAFE EVEN AS REGULATORS RUSH TO PREVENT FAILURES AT OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. HERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS IS MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN, A FINANCE PROFESSOR AT BABSON COLLEGE. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. >> IT IS A PLEASURE TO BE WITH BOTH OF YOU. BEN: THE WHITE HOUSE IS DOING EVERYTHING IT CAN RIGHT NOW TO REASSURE AMERICANS. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES WHEN PEOPLE SAY DON’T WORRY, DON’T PANIC OFTEN ENOUGH, THAT’S THE TIME WHEN YOU SHOULD BE AT LEAST A LITTLE CONCERNED. BUT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, IS THERE A REASON FOR ANYONE TO MOVE THEIR ACCOUNT FROM ONE BANK TO WITH THE OTHER? >> OF I HAD AN ACCOUNT AT SILICON VALLEY BANK OR A SIGNATURE BANK, I WOULD MOVE THOSE RIGHT AWAY SO I HAD ACCESS TO THEM. A FEW OF THE OTHER BANKS, I MAY MOVE THEM AS WELL. TO BE HONEST, I WAS PLANNING ON MOVING MY MONEY FROM ONE BANK TO ANOTHER AND I DECIDED NOT TO, I FELT REASSURED AND DECIDED NOT TO MOVE. ERIKA: PRESIDENT BIDEN SAID THIS MORNING THAT ANYONE WITH DEPOSITS AT SILICON VALLEY BANK AND SIGNATURE BANK WILL BE MADE WHOLE, AND TAXPAYERS WON’T FOOT THE BILL. SO WHO WILL PAY FOR THAT? >> HONESTLY, I THINK WE WILL PAY A LITTLE BIT, THE BANKS WILL PAY AN EXTRA FEE BY THE FDIC WILL CHARGE. SINCE ALL OF US HAVE MONEY IN FDIC INSURED BANKS, WE ARE SLOWLY OVER TIME GOING TO PAY A LITTLE EXTRA. THE GOOD NEWS IS FREQUENTLY, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY MUCH OF ANYTHING AS LONG AS EVERYBODY STOPS RUNNING. THE GOVERNMENT HAS ACTED IN SUCH A WAY I THINK THAT WILL BE THE CASE. BEN: THESE BANK FAILURES ARE TIED TO THE RISING INTEREST RATE WE HAVE EXPERIENCED OVER THE PAST YEAR OR SO. WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON RIGHT NOW, THE FED WILL MEET NEXT WEEK, IS A FED RATE HIKE ON THE DOCKET FOR THE MEETING? WILL THEY BE LESS INCLINED TO RAISE INTEREST RATES? >> IF I WERE ON -- I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT I AM NOT ON THE BOARD, IF I WAS ON THE BOARD, I WOULD STILL RAISE INTEREST RATES, BUT JUST A QUARTER-POINT. IF THEY DO, EVERYBODY WILL THINK THAT BANKS ARE REALLY IN TROUBLE. I THINK THIS HAS BEEN QUARANTINE TO A FEW BANKS. SOMETIMES OF THE HEALTHIEST THING TO DO WHEN YOU ARE BASICALLY HAVING A HEALTHY ECONOMY IS CONTINUING THE DIRECTION OF HAVING A HEALTHY ECONOMY. I ALMOST DO NOT WANT -- I UNDERSTAND THE POINT, IT IS NOT GREAT FOR BANKS IF YOU RAISE INTEREST RATES AGAIN, YOU DO NOT WANT TO SIGNAL WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT ALL OF OUR BANKS, THAT IS NOT A GOOD SIGNAL. ERIKA: A SMALLER INCREASE PERHAPS.
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Biden calls for tougher penalties for execs of failed banks
President Joe Biden on Friday called on Congress to allow regulators to impose tougher penalties on the executives of failed banks, including clawing back compensation and making it easier to bar them from working in the industry.Biden wants the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to be able to force the return of compensation paid to executives at a broader range of banks should they fail, and to lower the threshold for the regulator to impose fines and bar executives from working at another bank.He called on Congress to grant the FDIC those powers after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank sent shockwaves through the global banking industry.“Strengthening accountability is an important deterrent to prevent mismanagement in the future,” Biden said in a statement. “Congress must act to impose tougher penalties for senior bank executives whose mismanagement contributed to their institutions failing.”Currently the FDIC can only take back the compensation of executives at the largest banks in the nation, and other penalties on executives require “recklessness” or acting with “willful or continuing disregard" for their bank's health. Biden wants Congress to allow the regulator to impose penalties for “negligent” executives — a lower legal threshold.The White House highlighted reports that Silicon Valley Bank CEO Gregory Becker sold $3 million worth of shares in the bank in the days before its collapse, saying Biden wants the FDIC to have the authority to go after that compensation.The shuttering of Silicon Valley Bank last Friday and of New York’s Signature Bank two days later has revived bad memories of the financial crisis that plunged the United States into the Great Recession about 15 years ago.Over the weekend the federal government, determined to restore public confidence in the banking system, moved to protect all the banks’ deposits, even those that exceeded the FDIC’s $250,000 limit per individual account.

President Joe Biden on Friday called on Congress to allow regulators to impose tougher penalties on the executives of failed banks, including clawing back compensation and making it easier to bar them from working in the industry.

Biden wants the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to be able to force the return of compensation paid to executives at a broader range of banks should they fail, and to lower the threshold for the regulator to impose fines and bar executives from working at another bank.

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He called on Congress to grant the FDIC those powers after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank sent shockwaves through the global banking industry.

“Strengthening accountability is an important deterrent to prevent mismanagement in the future,” Biden said in a statement. “Congress must act to impose tougher penalties for senior bank executives whose mismanagement contributed to their institutions failing.”

Currently the FDIC can only take back the compensation of executives at the largest banks in the nation, and other penalties on executives require “recklessness” or acting with “willful or continuing disregard" for their bank's health. Biden wants Congress to allow the regulator to impose penalties for “negligent” executives — a lower legal threshold.

The White House highlighted reports that Silicon Valley Bank CEO Gregory Becker sold $3 million worth of shares in the bank in the days before its collapse, saying Biden wants the FDIC to have the authority to go after that compensation.

The shuttering of Silicon Valley Bank last Friday and of New York’s Signature Bank two days later has revived bad memories of the financial crisis that plunged the United States into the Great Recession about 15 years ago.

Over the weekend the federal government, determined to restore public confidence in the banking system, moved to protect all the banks’ deposits, even those that exceeded the FDIC’s $250,000 limit per individual account.