July 15, 2025

"A Conference for Foxes": Warren Presses Fed on New Deregulatory Conference

“A Conference for Foxes”: Warren Presses Fed on New Deregulatory Conference

“In what can be described as a conference for foxes, the Fed is enthusiastically curating panels focused on how best to raid the hen house.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to Michelle W. Bowman, Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Board, regarding the Fed’s upcoming conference – the first of its kind – on megabank capital requirements. Ranking Member Warren outlines her concern that the conference’s panelists are almost entirely Wall Street executives who have long championed weaker safeguards – without broader representation of Main Street stakeholders who ultimately bear the costs of megabank deregulation . 

“While the agenda features no shortage of Wall Street executives, it does not meaningfully include panelists who represent the interests of the communities and consumers who depend on a robust loss-absorbing capital framework to prevent megabank failures, taxpayer bailouts, and economic devastation,” wrote Ranking Member Warren. 

“Eleven big banks are featured on panels, including six global systemically important banks. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and other banks are featured on panels to opine on the capital requirements they have long lobbied to weaken,” said the Ranking Member. “In addition, one panel includes President Trump’s former Vice Chair for Supervision, Randal Quarles, who still refuses to take accountability for implementing the deregulatory agenda that contributed to Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in 2023. Also concerning, and frankly confusing, you plan to host OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for a fireside chat ‘to discuss the effects of artificial intelligence’ and how to ‘encourage innovation in the banking and financial system.’”

Ranking Member Warren concluded by calling on Chair Bowman to answer questions as to the intention behind the conference by July 21, 2025. 

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