Fed governor: Increased bank regulation may do more harm than good

Federal Reserve

A member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors warned the agency’s response to the banking crisis might end up hurting the mid-sized financial institutions it is supposed to help.

The failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank this year have banking regulators reevaluating supervisory priorities for mid-sized banks with more than $100 billion in assets, following an internal Fed report that highlighted some of the agency’s supervisory missteps in the buildup to the crisis.

Fed Governor Michelle Bowman argued in a speech delivered Sunday to European bank regulators that requiring regional, mid-sized banks to meet the same capital and liquidity requirements as large banks could reduce competition to the benefit of large banks. She also called the Fed’s report on its failures incomplete and rushed and noted it only included input from Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr. She argued an independent third party should be brought in to conduct a more thorough review.

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