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.
According to a statement from Brown, the first hearing will hear from witnesses including Federal Reserve Chair Martin Gruenberg, Federal Reserve official Michael Barr, and Nellie Liang, an under secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department.
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 CEOs, Brown said.
The 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 Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice -- are probing SVB. Global banking markets have been skittish and investors are afraid of the wider economic repercussions.
Brown told reporters last week that new bank industry legislation is unlikely to emerge from Congress.
There are people who are going to 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.
The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee previously said it would hold a bipartisan hearing on the banks collapse on March 29, with Barr and Gruenberg testifying again.