Economy

Big Bank CEOs Field Questions From Congress On Wall Street Practices

The industry was blamed for the Great Recession and has spent most of the past year trying to appear more helpful to struggling borrowers.

Big Bank CEOs Field Questions From Congress On Wall Street Practices
Frank Franklin II / AP
Article by Simon Kaufman
SMS
May 27, 2021

Bank CEOs faced questions on Capitol Hill Wednesday about Wall Street practices.

The Senate Banking Committee heard from the heads of the nation's big Wall Street firms, with lawmakers asking questions and Wall Street leaders answering.

"You argue you don't need government rules forcing you to make changes to your business model, so today start showing some proof," Sen. Sherrod Brown said. "Prove to us you're going to use your positions to change the Wall Street system to make our economy work for everyone, not just for CEOs and the wealthy."

Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf said, "When the pandemic struck, we all came together to stand up unprecedented assistance at a scale and speed and scale that had never been done before. Though the process was not perfect, we, the government and others rallied to do what needed to be done."

The banks appeared in front of Congress as the U.S. economy is recovering from the pandemic.

The industry was blamed for the Great Recession more than a decade ago and has spent most of 2020 and now 2021 trying to appear helpful and willing to work with struggling borrowers and businesses.