Hickenlooper, Warren Call on Regulators to Strengthen Bank Supervision Rule Supporting Access to Credit for Small Businesses and Consumers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Elizabeth Warren sent a letter urging federal banking regulators to strengthen proposed revisions to the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System (known as "CAMELS") to ensure that bank supervision is forward-looking, so bank management and supervisors address risks before they fester into more serious problems that threaten credit availability for small businesses and households. The letter was sent to Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould, FDIC Chairman Travis Hill, NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman, and Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought.

"The failure of [Silicon Valley Bank] illustrates the need for the CAMELS rating system to require rigorous evaluation of the capabilities and performance of bank management and forward-looking bank supervision," the senators wrote. "Exclusively identifying material weaknesses in banks' financial statements today may miss an opportunity to catch emerging risks early and prevent a bank crisis tomorrow."

The senators detailed how "when Silicon Valley Bank failed, the federal government stepped in to keep the crisis from spreading…But the hidden cost from the crisis, which lasted far longer, was the significant reduction in credit available to small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and consumers, particularly in rural and underserved areas."

In the letter the senators urged the agencies to revise the proposed amendments to the CAMELS ratings by:

• Restoring several references to the need for supervisors to evaluate bank management's ability to "identify, monitor, measure, and control" risks, including emerging risks.

• Requiring that bank supervisors conduct a forward-looking assessment of risks that could develop into material financial risks.

Read the full text of the letter HERE.

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