After months of preparation, “bash a banker day” (as Politico’s Morning Money newsletter has christened it) has finally arrived on Capitol Hill.
To wit, at 10 am, the CEOs of seven of the largest banks in the country will gather before members of the House Financial Services Committee for what’s expected to be a free-for-all hearing. This will be the first time a group of bank CEOs has been hauled in front of Congress since 2009 during the aftermath of the crisis.
This time around, the economic circumstances are better. Millions of Americans haven’t just been kicked out of their homes, and the labour market has been expanding for more than 100 quarters. While the ‘crisis’ of economic inequality has stoked a revival of populist anger on both the right and the left, all things considered, the public has no obvious reason to hate on Wall Street right now (other than the fact that JPM CEO Jamie Dimon probably earns way more money than you do).
But that hasn’t stopped progressive Democrats from pushing the demonization of Wall Street as a defining issue of the 2020 campaign season. Expect clips from Wednesday’s hearing to figure prominently in campaign ads next summer and fall.
Democrats are expected to grill the banksters on range of topics, from their generous comp packages (which for some last year returned to levels last seen before the crisis), the relaxation of Wall Street regulations, their efforts to improve diversity and end pay discrimination, their relationships with big polluters and private prisons and – of course- economic inequality, as they try to show the public that they’re ‘holding megabanks accountable.’ The executives said in prepared remarks that Wall Street reform enacted by Congress has made the system safer and less risky.
Meanwhile, Republicans are expected to ask some tough questions about banks’ decisions to cut ties with gun manufacturers and sellers.
Many of the executives are approaching the hearing with trepidation. Earlier this year, former Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan was brutally chided by Elizabeth Warren during a Congressional hearing, then told once again that he should resign from the bank. He was out a few weeks later.
Fortunately, as we said yesterday, the CEOs have an ace up their sleeve: JPM CEO Jamie Dimon, a seasoned veteran when it comes to dealing with Congress. Dimon is also the only one of the CEOs who was present at the last group hearing ten years ago.
The seven CEOs’ (Dimon, Citigroup’s Michael Corbatt, Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, State Street’s Ronald O’Hanley, BNY Mellon’s Charles Scharf and Goldman’s David Solomon) prepared remarks can be found here.
Watch the hearing live below:
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2G6alFz Tyler Durden