It’s high time that bank executives are held accountable for their mistakes. During a recent House Financial Services subcommittee hearing, three bank executives were called to account for the collapses of their respective banks: former Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker, Signature Bank CEO Scott Shay and First Republic Bank CEO Michael Roffler.
Republican Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga asked each executive if they held themselves accountable for the banking failures. Becker answered yes, while Shay and Roffler dodged the question.
“Do you accept the responsibility for your failure or do you believe it was other management?” Huizenga asked Shay.
“As Chairman of the Board, I think I did a responsible role throughout to fulfill my duties,” Shay answered. Huizenga responded, “So that also sounds like a no. So congratulations, Mr. Becker, you’re the only one to man up and actually take responsibility for that.”
It’s quite clear that Becker was the only one willing to take responsibility for what happened. The other two bank executives effectively dodged the question, refusing to own up to their mistakes.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time bank executives have been able to dodge responsibility. It’s a recurring theme in this industry.
Bailouts are a common occurrence but the burden of responsibility rarely falls on the bank executives. Taxpayers are often left to pick up the tab for these bailouts, despite the fact that the banks are often at fault.
It’s time for bank executives to be held accountable for their actions and to own up to their mistakes. As Becker said, “I think you have to take responsibility for the ultimate outcome of your institution.”
It’s also worth noting that Becker received a letter from regulators in August 2022 warning about different types of risk.
Huizenga asked Becker to clarify that the risk was not an issue for the regulators, and questioned whether the regulators had been in communication with the bank.
Becker claimed he was “incredibly responsive” to the feedback from regulators prior to Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.
It’s time for bank executives to take responsibility for their actions and be held accountable. Taxpayers should not be the ones footing the bill for bailouts when the banks are at fault. Bank executives need to take responsibility and own up to their mistakes. It’s the least they can do.
To be fair, I think the regulators were too busy focusing on equity and pronoun training to do their actual jobs.
