Sen. Brown urges FDIC, OCC to more closely scrutinize bank mergers

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is urging the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to keep a close eye on bank mergers.

Specifically, Brown, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, would like to see the agencies’ updated bank merger policies adequately scrutinize the effects of mergers on consumers and communities.

“Last year’s bank failures coupled with an increasing trend towards concentration in the banking industry demonstrate the immediate need for the OCC, the other banking regulators, and the Department of Justice (DOJ), to collectively complete a comprehensive update of the bank merger review framework to ensure consumers, and not just Wall Street, benefit from these transactions,” Brown wrote in his letter to the OCC.

Brown noted that the number of banks under the OCC’s supervision has steadily declined over the past 40 years as the largest institutions have acquired a larger share of the nation’s assets.

“The six largest bank holding companies now control more assets than all others combined,” Brown wrote. “Even when the business case for individual mergers looks clear, these deals don’t affect just executives or shareholders of individual banks—over time, they shape the banking sector as a whole, affecting the cost of credit and basic banking services that consumers, workers, and businesses rely on for their economic security. To ensure a competitive and stable financial system, the OCC should prioritize finalizing a strong rule and Policy Statement so that a clear set of principles are guiding the review and assessment of mergers and acquisitions.”

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