Majority Press Releases
Brown, Reed, Merkley Urge Fed to Strengthen, Finish Rules to Curb Wall Street Commodity Ownership
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) urged the Federal Reserve to strengthen and complete its proposed rules to curb Wall Street banks' ownership of physical commodities, such as oil, coal, and metals. Brown, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee; Reed, a senior member of the Banking panel; and Merkley outlined their concerns in a letter to Fed Chair Janet Yellen. The Senators commended the Fed's work on the proposed r… Continue Reading
February 2, 2017
Brown Opposes Repeal of Anti-Corruption Rule for Energy, Mining Companies
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - today defended a bipartisan rule that makes it harder for oil, gas, and mining companies to engage in bribery and corruption in developing nations. The Senate is now considering a measure to repeal the rule. The transparency rule, which was finalized in 2016, protects U.S. citizens and investors from having millions of their dollars vanish into the pockets of … Continue Reading
January 24, 2017
Brown Statement on Banking Committee's Approval of Carson for HUD Secretary
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following statement after the committee approved Ben Carson's nomination for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Brown voted in favor of Carson's nomination, which now goes to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. "Dr. Carson is not the nominee I would have chosen to lead HUD, due to both his lack of experience and his often troubling p… Continue Reading
January 24, 2017
Brown Pushes for Banking Committee Nominees to Provide Tax Returns
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee - is pushing to require Cabinet-level nominations under the Banking panel's jurisdiction to release their tax returns. Brown's proposal would change Banking Committee rules to require Cabinet-level nominees to submit the three most recent years of their tax returns to the Committee before their confirmation hearings. It also would require sub-Cabinet level nominees to p… Continue Reading
January 17, 2017
Banking Committee Democrats: Trump Administration Needs Cordray as Consumer Watchdog
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A group of Senate Banking Committee Democrats today praised Richard Cordray's outstanding work as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), emphasizing the need for his leadership at the agency in President-elect Donald Trump's Administration. In a letter to Cordray, whose term expires in July 2018, the Senators highlighted his accomplishments as the nation's top consumer watchdog in protecting servicemembers, seniors, students, and other hardworking Americ… Continue Reading
January 12, 2017
Brown Opening Statement at Hearing on HUD Nominee Ben Carson
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at today's hearing on the nomination of Dr. Benjamin Carson to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow. Senator Sherrod Brown - Opening Statement:Nomination HearingJan. 12, 2017 Thank you, Chairman Crapo, for hol… Continue Reading
January 11, 2017
Banking Committee Democrats Question Surge in Wells Fargo's Overdraft Income
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A group of Senate Banking Committee Democrats today asked Wells Fargo's chief executive to explain whether the bank's recent surge in income from overdraft charges had any connection to the scandal over its fraudulent sales practices. In their letter to Wells Fargo Chief Executive Timothy Sloan, the Senators expressed concern with a recent Financial Times report on how the bank's income from overdraft charges grew by 7.5 percent between July and September. That was five times… Continue Reading
January 10, 2017
Brown Urges Trump to Reject Latest Attack on Consumers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee - today urged President-elect Donald Trump to reject efforts by predatory lenders and their allies in Congress to gut protections for working Americans by removing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray before his term expires in July 2018. "Under Richard Cordray's leadership, the CFPB has returned $12 billion to servicemembers, seniors, and worki… Continue Reading
January 9, 2017
Brown, Merkley Push Back on OCC's Plan for Financial Technology Charter
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today expressed concerns that a new federal charter for financial technology firms could weaken consumer protections, limit competition, and threaten financial stability. The Senators outlined their concerns in a letter to the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which announced earlier this month that it would for the first time begin offering banking licenses to "fintech" firms. The OCC's move allows … Continue Reading
January 4, 2017
Brown Statement on President-Elect Trump's SEC Nominee Jay Clayton
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, today issued the following statement on President-elect Trump's nomination of Jay Clayton for Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission: "It's hard to see how an attorney who's spent his career helping Wall Street beat the rap will keep President-elect Trump's promise to stop big banks and hedge funds from 'getting away with murder.' I look forward to hearing h… Continue Reading
December 22, 2016
Banking Committee Democrats Press Wells Fargo Board for More Answers on Phony Accounts Scandal
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democrats on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee today called on Wells Fargo's board of directors to respond to questions that the bank's management has failed to answer following a scandal over its fraudulent sales practices. In the letter, the Senators asked Wells Fargo's board for details about its ongoing investigation of the fraud, the timeline of when the board learned about the bank's illegal practices, actions the board took to address the problem, and reasons why it di… Continue Reading
December 21, 2016
Brown Asks Trump's Treasury Nominee to Explain Views on Banking, Housing Rules
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee - today asked Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Treasury Secretary, to answer questions about his views and record related to key Wall Street rules and housing issues. In a letter to Mnuchin, Brown asked the nominee to provide information about how his experience as a hedge fund executive, former Goldman Sachs partner, and leader of a financial i… Continue Reading
December 14, 2016
Brown, Cantwell, Feinstein Blast CFTC for Failure to Finish Rule to Curb Excessive Speculation in Commodities
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today criticized the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for failing to complete a long-delayed rule to curb the number of futures contracts a trader can hold on certain commodities, including oil, natural gas, and gold. The CFTC in 2013 revised its proposal to crack down on excessive speculation in a group of 28 commodities, but the agency has yet to issue a final rule. On Dec. 5, CFTC Chairm… Continue Reading
December 13, 2016
Brown Statement on Big Banks' Revised 'Living Will' Bankruptcy Plans
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - issued the following statement today after the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced their joint determination on how the nation's largest banks revised their plans for how they would be dissolved in a crisis without a taxpayer bailout. "Today's joint determination is a reminder that Wall Street reform is working to rein in the me… Continue Reading
November 18, 2016
Brown: Wells Fargo Must Stop Stonewalling on Phony Accounts Scandal
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - today criticized Wells Fargo for failing to answer key questions stemming from its former chief executive's testimony in September on the bank's unauthorized accounts scandal. Brown released Wells Fargo's responses to dozens of questions for the record Banking Committee Democrats had posed to then-Chairman and CEO John Stumpf following his testimony before the… Continue Reading
November 17, 2016
Brown, Waters Oppose Efforts to Gut Wall Street Reform Via Funding Bills
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The leading Democrats on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees today urged Congressional leaders to reject any attempts to use must-pass government funding legislation to repeal, weaken, or delay financial reforms and consumer protections. In a letter to Senate and House leaders, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said they will oppose ideological policy riders to year-end funding legislation aimed at rolling back protections of the D… Continue Reading
November 17, 2016
Brown Urges Trump to Hold Wall Street, Hedge Funds Accountable
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - issued the following statement after today's meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) on potential risks to the financial system posed by large hedge funds. During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump campaigned against Wall Street and hedge funds, criticizing them for "getting away with murder." "The Council's oversight of potential r… Continue Reading
September 28, 2016
Banking Committee Democrats Press Wells Fargo CEO for More Answers on Phony Accounts Scandal
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democrats on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee today pressed Wells Fargo Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf to respond to questions stemming from his testimony last week on the bank's unauthorized accounts scandal. The Senators asked Stumpf to answer dozens of questions for the record to clarify and supplement his testimony before the Banking Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The written questions were jointly submitted by all of the panel's 10 Democrats: Ranking Member S… Continue Reading
September 28, 2016
Brown Statement on Wells Fargo Move to Claw Back Executive Pay
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - issued the following statement in the wake of Wells Fargo's announcement late Tuesday that it will claw back some compensation from Chief Executive John Stumpf and Carrie Tolstedt, who led Wells Fargo's community banking division. "Wells Fargo's announcement is a step in the right direction but there are still dozens of unanswered questions," said Brown. "We s… Continue Reading
September 26, 2016
Brown Commends Fed Proposal to Curb Wall Street's Commodities Holdings
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - today commended the Federal Reserve's proposed rule to limit risks posed by Wall Street bank's involvement in physical commodities, such as aluminum, coal, and oil. Brown has long pushed the Fed to issue its proposed rule, which would require banks involved in physical commodity activities to boost capital to cover the risks of such investments. Under the Fed'… Continue Reading
