BREAKING: FDIC APPOINTED RECEIVER OF SILICON VALLEY BANK.
We knew there were problems at SVB, but this is *exceptional* for a few reasons:
FDIC rarely, rarely fails banks during business hours. We usually see this at COB on Fridays, so this must have been extremely dire.
Second: the FDIC does not like to be appointed receiver when a bank fails. This process is expensive, and the Deposit Insurance Fund will need to pay.
The FDIC prefers to identify a buyer who will absorb the bank and customers. Underscores just how fast this failure happened.
"At the time of closing, the amount of deposits in excess of the insurance limits was undetermined. The amount of uninsured deposits will be determined once the FDIC obtains additional information from the bank and customers." fdic.gov/news/press-rel…
Bloomberg's @ElleBeyoud and @kjspeakstruth reported an hour ago that FDIC and Fed officials visited the bank yesterday. That was a good, good indicator that shit was about to break bad.
I'm watching a hearing about the CFPB's funding. Rep. Barr (R-Ky.) asks witnesses to address "sky is falling concerns" about the SCOTUS case impacting other regulators.
The first GOP witness to speak says... that the funding of other agencies outside approps should be reviewed
The witness alluded to this in his testimony here, but it's definitely not the answer Barr was looking for with this question. docs.house.gov/meetings/BA/BA…
Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) seized on that line in his questions, asking if Congress should be able to hold the Federal Reserve's budget hostage every time lawmakers want interest rates to change. "You think that's a good future for the United States?"
We are live for day 2 of testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell! Follow along with me from inside the House Financial Service Committee. It's a full house!
Chair Patrick McHenry lauded Powell for committing to stay the course on inflation and warned him not to fold to pressure from "the political left" and slow down. He also flagged concerns about the Fed's capital review.
Ranking Member Waters (D) is hitting Republicans for not passing any legislation related to inflation and the looming fight over the debt limit.
"I hope Republicans will listen today to the real consequences that even the mere threat of default means to everyone."
I've covered the FDIC since 2019. After Biden's win, the question of what that meant for Chair McWilliams -- an independent, Trump-appointed regulator whose term didn't end until mid-2023 -- has been an enduring Q of mine. Here's how my coverage developed over the past year:
In Aug. 2020, before Biden won, I looked at 2008 and asked whether McWilliams would go the route of Sheila Bair -- a Bush-appointee who was asked by Obama to stay on as FDIC chair as we navigated the financial crisis. Could that logic apply to COVID? americanbanker.com/news/would-mcw…
Then, after Biden's win, there was a lot of chatter around what he might be in store for the OCC, the Fed, the CFPB... but not so much the FDIC. Why? Well, DC wisdom held that the independent FDIC chair "set the agenda."