© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on “The Federal Reserve’s Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report” on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Fil
(Reuters) – The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Monday asked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to hand over confidential documents related to the central bank’s supervision of failed Silicon Valley Bank.
Committee chair James Comer, in a letter to Powell published on the panel’s website, also asked for documents related to Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr’s investigation into the supervisory and regulatory failures that contributed to SVB’s collapse in March, which triggered weeks of turmoil in the U.S. and global banking industry.
Fed staff, the letter said, had so far only turned over already public information, but nothing that was “responsive” to the committee’s specific requests as it investigates the SVB failure.
“On June 1, 2023, Committee staff met with the Fed Board staff to discuss the Committee’s concerns with the assertion of a blanket privilege over all the documents we requested and ensure the Committee would receive the documents necessary to a full and complete investigation,” the letter said.
“During that meeting, Fed Board staff agreed to turn over non-public CSI (confidential supervisory information) materials and other responsive documents,” it said.
Among documents requested were all interviews and notes related to Barr’s report.
