Comer & McClain Seek Additional Information from Fed Board on Silicon Valley Bank Failure

WASHNGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) are seeking additional information from Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (Fed Board), on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). In a letter sent today, the lawmakers highlight that the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank (SF Fed) has failed to produce documents that satisfy the Committee’s initial request for information and now seek further documents and communications from the Fed Board related to the failure of SVB.

“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting an investigation into the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. We have had several discussions related to document production with staff of the SF Fed and your staff at the Federal Reserve Board. We write to memorialize those conversations and to request additional information in the possession of the Fed Board to assist the Committee in its investigation into the failure of SVB,” wrote the lawmakers.

On April 27, 2023, the Committee sent a request to SF Fed President Mary Daly for documents and records critical to understanding the collapse of SVB. On May 22, 2023, the SF Fed provided documents which included a brief overview of the Federal Reserve System, along with a copy of the Board’s postmortem Review of the Federal Reserve Supervision of Silicon Valley Bank. The information provided was already publicly available and failed to satisfy the Committee’s request. On June 1, 2023, Committee staff met with Fed Board staff to discuss the Committee’s concerns and Fed Board staff agreed to turn over non-public materials and documents.

“We have since received some non-public CSI materials. The Committee, however, has not received any communications responsive to our requests,” continued the lawmakers. “We look forward to continuing working with you and your staff so that the Committee can receive a fully responsive production.”

Read the letter to Chairman Powell here.