In the wake of the failure of several regional banks, lawmakers are furiously at work drafting new bills to give regulatory authorities more control over banks. But some experts say that bank regulators already had all the power they needed, but failed to use it effectively. “Every time we have a crisis on our hands,…

NEW YORK—About 1,000 employees of First Republic Bank are being let go about a month after it was seized by regulators and acquired by JP Morgan Chase. The vast majority of First Republic employees, roughly 7,200 before it ran into trouble, were offered jobs by JPMorgan, meaning that about 15 percent of the bank’s employees…

The absorption of First Republic Bank by JPMorgan Chase on May 1 was just the latest step in a relentless march of consolidation among U.S. banks, as America’s banking industry becomes both more concentrated and more closely entwined with the federal government. Since the “Great Financial Crisis” of 2008, federal regulators have become comfortable with…

GENEVA—Swiss banking giant UBS said Tuesday that it took in $28 billion in new money from wealthy clients in the first three months of the year, with $7 billion of that coming in the 10 days after the announcement it was taking over ailing rival Credit Suisse. Zurich-based UBS, which is set to become Switzerland’s…

WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said banks are likely to become more cautious and may tighten lending further in the wake of recent bank failures, possibly negating the need for further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. Yellen said in a “Fareed Zakaria GPS” interview that policy actions to stem the systemic threat caused by last month’s…

News Analysis Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failed in spectacular and sudden fashion on March 10, becoming the second largest bank to do so in our nation’s history and triggering panic in our banking system in the process. Although virtually everyone knows of SVB’s failure, not everyone understands exactly why Silicon Valley Bank failed. Many have…

Following a string of regional bank failures over the past several weeks, bank regulators were quick to guarantee all depositors for the full balance of their bank accounts, even beyond the $250,000 limit set by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). At the time, the Biden administration assured Americans that taxpayers would not be on…

The Federal Reserve has painted itself into a corner with its fight against inflation, and some experts say it now has no coherent plan for how to get out of it. Having kept interest rates near zero for more than a decade and expanded its balance sheet to $9 trillion to stimulate the economy, the…

President Joe Biden used his veto power on Monday to block a bipartisan action from Congress that would have prevented pension fund managers from investing retirees’ money according to environmental and social-justice criteria. “There is extensive evidence showing that environmental, social, and governance factors can have a material impact on markets, industries, and businesses,” Biden…

All eyes are on the Federal Reserve ahead of their closely-watched interest rate decision on March 22. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and company will have to balance fears of more damage to the banking sector with their original mission—to defeat inflation. Markets have priced in an overwhelming likelihood of a 25 basis-point rate hike. How…