House bill would mandate congressional visits by big-bank CEOs

WASHINGTON — A House Democrat has proposed legislation to require the CEOs of the U.S. "global systemically important" banks to testify before Congress.

Under the Greater Supervision in Banking Act, the chief executives of the eight GSIBs would appear annually before the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. The bill was introduced by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.

“Ten years later and banks’ shareholders are reaping record profits while much of the country has yet to recover from the 2008 financial crisis,” Pressley said in a press release. “As working-class families continue to pay the price, the nation’s biggest banks are continuing to rack up billions in fines for illegal practices while avoiding any meaningful accountability. Congress has a duty to hold these systemically important banks and their executives accountable on behalf of the American people.”

The eight banks are JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Bank of New York Mellon.

The banks would also be required to submit annual public reports on information about their size and complexity, market activity, employee wages, diversity and any enforcement or regulatory actions.

The legislation comes after large-bank CEOs testified in April to the House Financial Services committee, roughly 10 years after the financial crisis. At the end of that hearing, Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said she plans to call the same CEOs to testify before the panel again, but not all at once.

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GSIBs Policymaking House Financial Services Committee Senate Banking Committee JPMorgan Chase Citigroup Goldman Sachs Wells Fargo Bank of America
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