Warren Presses Bessent, Atkins on How President Trump's Deregulatory Agenda has Exacerbated Risks in Private Credit

Warren Presses Bessent, Atkins on How President Trump's Deregulatory Agenda has Exacerbated Risks in Private Credit

The Administration's "belated yet tepid acknowledgment of risk, after months of limited action, raises significant questions about the Administration's position on the private credit market, particularly as it continues to deregulate the financial industry and reduce regulators' ability to meaningfully identify or prevent financial crises"

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of Treasury, Scott Bessent, and Paul Atkins, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, raising concerns about how the Trump Administration's deregulatory actions have intensified risks posed by private credit, leading to increased vulnerability of the financial system and Americans' retirement plans being threatened.

"As recently as last month, Chairman Atkins described the private credit market as 'not a systemic risk' to the financial system, though has recently acknowledged 'emerging pressures' in the industry. And according to recent reports, Secretary Bessent-after a year of only minimal engagement with the private credit market-is now holding a flurry of 'monitoring' meetings to assess private credit risk. This raises significant questions about the Administration's approach, all the while your agencies remain united in advancing a deregulatory agenda that makes the financial system even more susceptible to a private-credit-induced financial crisis," wrote the Senator.

The Senator laid out how the Administration's actions have exacerbated the risks of private credit while failing to act: "In July 2025, I asked Secretary Bessent, in his capacity as Chair of the FSOC, to conduct research on the interconnectedness of the private credit market and develop a stress test-similar to those conducted in other countries18-to assess our economy's susceptibility to private-credit-induced market shocks. He did not do so. Over the course of his tenure as Treasury Secretary, Secretary Bessent has advanced President Trump's Wall Street First agenda, undermining the resilience of the financial system in the face of these intensifying risks … The SEC has similarly exacerbated the problem … Working with the Department of Labor (DOL), the SEC is working to open Americans' 401(k)s to private credit"

The Senator concluded: "This belated yet tepid acknowledgment of risk, after months of limited action, raises significant questions about the Administration's position on the private credit market, particularly as it continues to deregulate the financial industry and reduce regulators' ability to meaningfully identify or prevent financial crises."

The Senator requests responses by May 26, 2026.

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