WASHINGTON, DC – Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman today slammed bank executives from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank at a Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing on the recent failures of their banks. Witnesses represented two of three banks that have been seized by regulators in the past two months.
Senator Fetterman first criticized former Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker for vacationing in Hawaii just days after the bank’s failure.
“The second biggest bank collapse in U.S. history and you chose to go to Hawaii. I’ve never been to Hawaii, nor has my family. I guess I haven’t crashed a bank,” said Senator Fetterman.
Senator Fetterman also used his time to slam Republican’s debt limit proposal to increase work requirements for SNAP and their hypocritical budget priorities, pointing out how these bank executives received million-dollar bonuses and share profits despite driving their banks into the ground and forcing taxpayers to pick up the pieces.
“Shouldn’t you have a working requirement after we bail out your bank? Republicans seem to be more preoccupied with SNAP requirements for hungry people than protecting taxpayers that have to bail out these banks,” said Senator Fetterman.
Since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March, Senator Fetterman has been fighting for commonsense bank regulations and increased executive accountability. Just three weeks ago, Senator Fetterman participated in another hearing on these bank failures, where he called out the role of corporate greed in the collapses. He has also taken legislative action, co-sponsoring the Secure Viable Banking Act, which would restore critical protections to keep Big Banks in check & prevent future crises, and the Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act, which empowers the federal government to engage in more aggressive enforcement of clawbacksof compensation from bank executives of failed banks.
Senator Fetterman’s questions to the executives can be found here, and a full recording of the hearing can be found here.