Senate Banking Committee Chair Urges Fed, OCC to Review Big Bank M&A Oversight

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, urged the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to join the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in reviewing and reconsidering their approach to big bank mergers.

"The federal banking agencies must all adopt a posture toward bank merger reviews that prioritizes competition, financial stability, and the needs of working families and small businesses," Brown wrote in an April 6 letter addressed to Fed Chair Pro Tempore Jerome Powell and Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu.

Consolidation of the "biggest banks" has enriched big bank shareholders and executives, but their gains have come at the expense of consumers and small businesses with less access to low-cost financial services, Brown said. Consolidation among banks also supports consolidation in non-financial industries, undermining small enterprises, while community banks serving rural and smaller communities and supporting more small business lending compared to Wall Street banks are "forced to compete on an uneven playing field with nonbank fintech companies," he added.

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