By Moira Warburton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will hold the first of several hearings on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank on March 28, Democratic Chairman Sherrod Brown said on Tuesday.
The first hearing will hear from witnesses including Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Martin Gruenberg, Federal Reserve official Michael Barr, and Nellie Liang, an under secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department, according to a statement from Brown.
“It is critical that we get to the bottom of how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed so that we can maintain a strong banking system, protect Americans’ hard-earned money, and hold those responsible accountable, including the CEOs,” Brown said.
Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by federal regulators on March 10, with Signature Bank following suit a few days later. Multiple federal agencies – including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission – are probing SVB. Global banking markets have been skittish and investors remain fearful of wider economic repercussions.
Last week, Brown told reporters that new bank industry legislation is unlikely to emerge from Congress.
“There are people who will introduce bills, but I cannot imagine with the hold that the banks have on Republicans in Congress that we could pass anything significant,” Brown told reporters.
Brown added that new regulatory actions were possible.
The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee previously said it will hold a bipartisan hearing on the banks’ collapse on March 29, with Barr and Gruenberg testifying again.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
