Member Views

The Failure of Silicon Valley Bank – Are There Lessons for the Basel Regulatory Framework?

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on March 10 was a failure that should not have occurred. A confluence of factors involving regulators, SVB management, and its depositors came together in an adverse way to bring down the bank.

Five Steps to Stop the Next Run on America’s Banks

If bank executives' compensation "shifted away from cash and equity toward subordinated debt that they had to hold for several years, they would be less inclined to take the kinds of risks that could lead to failure," says BWC chair Bill Dudley.

The Fed Can Fight Both Inflation and Bank Contagion

BWC chair Bill Dudley says in a piece for Bloomberg Opinion that for the Fed, "what matters is that it do what’s needed on the financial stability side as soon as possible, so that it can safely pursue the right monetary policy at future meetings."

Protecting Bank Deposits

BWC member Warren Coats: "The cost of the Chicago Plan... is the need for banks to fund their credit operations with equity or long-term debt, rather than with potentially volatile deposits. We should move to the Chicago Plan and fully separate money from credit."

Central Bankers Must Keep Financial Stability in Mind as They Fight Inflation

BWC member Hung Tran: "central banks should be more transparent in explaining how they take into consideration the impacts of excessive risk taking as well as banking and financial crises when formulating monetary policies—both during the easing and tightening phases."

Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance

BWC member Afsaneh Beschloss, founder and CEO of RockCreek was named to Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance list for the second year in a row. The list honors leaders in the financial services industry who have made outsized contributions to strengthening the US financial system.

Samson Enzer

BWC welcomes our newest member, Samson Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.

A distinguished former federal prosecutor, Samson “Sam” Enzer is the chair of Cahill’s nationally recognized cryptocurrency and blockchain group, and a member of the firm’s renowned white collar, government investigations, and litigation practices. Since launching Cahill’s cryptocurrency team, Sam has been named a national Law360 MVP in fintech and a National Law Journal Trailblazer in cryptocurrency, blockchain, and fintech based on the team’s accomplishments in these fields.

SVB and Stablecoins—Time to Tighten Regulation

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and subsequent jitters at USDC shall serve as a reminder that stablecoin regulation remains far too lax. Circle, the U.S. company and issuer of USDC, a stablecoin denominated in U.S. dollar, is mostly regulated in the U.S. as a money transmitter. This is grossly insufficient for a company with US$40 billion in stablecoins outstanding. Regulation and supervision need to impose sufficient obligations for stablecoin issuers to adopt best industry practices. 

Who Is to Blame for the New Banking Crisis?

BWC vice-chair William Rhodes: "a good deal of it lies with the former Trump administration and those members of Congress who listened to bank lobbyists and decided it would be wise to lighten the regulatory and capital burden on so-called smaller banks."

Bailouts Create a Moral Hazard Even if They're Justified. Is There Another Way?

BWC member Hung Tran argues "a much better approach would have been to protect large depositors up to the value of the closed banks’ high-quality bond portfolios, which are eligible as collateral to borrow from the newly launched Bank Term Funding Program."