PRESIDENT Joe Biden today sought to reassure jittery Americans that they can have confidence that the US banking system is “safe” and vowed stricter bank regulation after a string of bank failures raised concerns about the nation’s financial stability.
The president’s early morning comments came after US bank regulators spent the weekend working on a plan to shore up the public’s confidence in the soundness of the financial system and limit spillover effects following the closing of the Silicon Valley Bank last week.
“Americans can rest assured that our banking system is safe. Your deposits are safe,” Biden said from the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Taxpayers will not bear any losses from the move, which will be funded by fees regulators charge to banks, he said. The banks’ leaders will be fired, he added.
Biden in his address allayed fears, directly explaining what he has instructed his administration to do to protect small businesses and workers in the wake of regulator shutdowns of both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank over the last few days. “Small businesses across the country that deposit accounts at these banks can breathe easier, knowing they’ll be able to pay their workers and pay their bills, and their hard-working employees can breathe easier as well,” Biden said.
“Last week, when we learned the problems with the banks and the impact they could have on jobs, some small businesses and banking systems overall, I instructed my team to act quickly to protect these interests,” he said.
The California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th largest bank in the United States, was closed on Friday by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation which later appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as its receiver.
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