On Sunday, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said that he would return donations he received from the failed Silicon Valley Bank if there was evidence of malfeasance uncovered at Tuesday's hearing by the Senate Banking Committee.
Warner was a committee member during a Sunday appearance on CBS Face the Nation, more than two weeks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the nation's 16th largest.
Margaret Brennan, Host, said Warner was one of 16 Democrats who voted for a 2018 law that rolled Dodd-Frank banking regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. The rollbacks received fresh scrutiny after the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank.
Warner said that he would support adding additional regulations to mid-size banks if Tuesday s hearing determined that stress tests would have predicted the bank's imminent collapse.
Warner was one of many high-profile individuals and entities that received donations from Silicon Valley Bank. Democratic lawmakers Chuck Schumer, Maxine Waters, and Ro Khanna have returned donations.
Brenna pressed Warner on the $21,600 he received from the Silicon Valley Bank's political action committee and nearly $6,000 from its CEO.
Warner said campaign contributions have never influenced his policy choices, and he plans to return those funds.
We are going to hear the facts on Tuesday. If there is malfeasance at the bank, of course, I'm going to give the money back, Warner said.
Silicon Valley Bank failed on March 10 after making risky bets in the bond market. Two days later, the New York-based Signature Bank, which had been involved in cryptocurrencies, was closed by regulators.
A week later, the long-troubled Swiss bank Credit Suisse was taken over by rival UBS Group. America's biggest lenders including Citi agreed to deposit $30 billion in the beleaguered First Republic Bank to give it time for restructuring after these failures.