9:43 a.m. ET, March 13, 2023
Taxpayers will suffer no losses, Biden says as he describes actions to keep the banking system safe
From CNN’s Aditi Sangal
US President Joe Biden speaks today about the US banking system in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC.
(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Monday to reassure Americans that the banking system is safe following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. In his speech, he emphasized the immediate action taken by his administration.
Customer deposits are protected: Customers will “be able to access their money starting today. So will small businesses across the country that bank there and have to pay payroll, pay their bills and stay open for business,” Biden said, adding that there is no losses will be suffered by the taxpayers.
“Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay to the Deposit Insurance Fund,” he explained.
The management of these banks will be fired: “If the bank is taken over by FDIC, the people who run the bank should stop working there,” Biden said.
Investors in the banks are not protected: “They knowingly took a risk and if the risk didn’t pay off, investors lost their money. That’s how capitalism works,” Biden added.
To record a full account of what happened: Biden stressed the importance of holding those responsible accountable. “In my administration, no one is above the law,” he said.
Reduce the risk of this happening again: Citing requirements in place during the Obama administration, including the Dodd-Frank Act, Biden said rules were in place to avoid a repeat of 2008. But he added that the Trump administration reversed some of these rules.
“I’m going to ask Congress and banking regulators to tighten the rules on banks to reduce the likelihood of bank failures like this happening again,” he said. “And to protect American jobs and small businesses.”
He assured that while the banking system is safe, he also said that the administration will not stop there.
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