Majority Press Releases
Banking and Housing Committee Democrats Year-End Recap and Next-Year Outlook
Date: December 8, 2022To: Reporters and EditorsFrom: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Majority StaffRe: Banking and Housing Committee Democrats Year-End Recap and Next-Year Outlook Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement and memo on the Committee’s accomplishments of the past year, as well as priorities for the 118th Congress.“The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Co… Continue Reading
December 6, 2022
Brown, Casey, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Ensure a Fair Banking System
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, along with Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), introduced the Close the Shadow Banking Loophole Act, legislation to require companies that own an industrial loan company (ILC) to be subject to the same rules and consumer protections as traditional banks.“Letting Big Tech and commercial companies operate banks without proper oversight will only open doors … Continue Reading
December 1, 2022
Brown: We Must End Discrimination in Banking
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Fairness in Financial Services: Racism and Discrimination in Banking.”Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:When work has dignity, every American can fully participate in and receive the benefits of our dynamic economy.Financial services and products have played a critical role in … Continue Reading
November 30, 2022
Brown Calls for Action to Protect Homeowners from Zombie Mortgages
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), to urge the CFPB to review second mortgage servicing practices of the servicers and debt collectors it supervises. The letter follows reports that mortgage servicers are attempting to collect or foreclose on second mortgages borrowers did not know they had, which could put homeownersh… Continue Reading
November 30, 2022
Brown Opening Statement at Nomination Hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s nomination hearing for The Honorable Martin Gruenberg, nominee to be a Member and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Mr. Travis Hill, nominee to be a Member and Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the FDIC, Mr. Jonathan McKernan, nominee to be a Member… Continue Reading
November 30, 2022
Brown to Treasury: We Need to Work Together on Crypto Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to U.S. Treasury Secretary and Chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Committee (FSOC) Janet Yellen about the need to address troubling risks in the crypto asset markets, as highlighted by FTX’s recent collapse.In his letter, Brown calls on Secretary Yellen to work together with him and other financial regulators to develop comprehensive crypto legislation: “In t… Continue Reading
November 21, 2022
Brown, Colleagues Call on Bank Regulators to Review SoFi's Crypto Activities
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Committee members Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Tina Smith (D-MN) sent letters urging Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, FDIC Acting Chair Marty Gruenberg, and Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu to review SoFi’s crypto trading activities. The lawmakers highlighted the risk to consumers when banks trade volatile crypto assets and w… Continue Reading
November 15, 2022
Brown: Our Regulators Must Stay on the Side of Workers and Families
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled “Oversight of Financial Regulators: A Strong Banking and Credit Union System for Main Street.”Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:We know that most Americans want the same things - a safe, affordable place to call home, a good-paying job, and a strong, stable government that they c… Continue Reading
November 14, 2022
Brown Applauds Marty Gruenberg's Nomination For FDIC Chair
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement after President Biden announced the nomination of the Honorable Martin J. Gruenberg to be Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Gruenberg has served as Acting Chair of the FDIC since February.“I applaud President Biden’s nomination of Marty Gruenberg to be Chair of the FDIC. Marty has years of experience shepherding the … Continue Reading
November 10, 2022
Brown Statement on FTX
Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement regarding FTX’s collapse.“The recent collapse of FTX is a loud warning bell that cryptocurrencies can fail, and just like we saw with over-the-counter derivatives that led to a financial crisis, these failures can have a ripple effect on consumers and other parts of our financial system. The cryptocurrency market’s continued turmoil is why we must th… Continue Reading
November 1, 2022
Brown Calls on FTC to Review Whether Rental Pricing Algorithms Violate the Law
WASHINGTON D.C. - Today, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Lina Khan, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to urge the FTC to review property owners’ and landlords’ use of price optimization software like RealPage’s YieldStar and AI Revenue Management to set rents. The letter follows reports that the software’s algorithm inflated rents and suppressed competition in the housing market.“According to recent repo… Continue Reading
October 25, 2022
Ahead of FOMC Meeting, Brown Reminds Chair Powell of the Fed's Mandate to Promote Maximum Employment
WASHINGTON D.C. - Today, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Jerome Powell, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, to remind the Federal Reserve of its responsibility to maintain full employment. The letter makes clear that the Fed’s fight against inflation must not hurt workers.“As you know, the Federal Reserve is charged with the dual mandate of promoting maximum employment, stable prices, and modera… Continue Reading
October 21, 2022
Statement from Senator Brown on the Fifth Circuit CFPB Opinion
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement after the Fifth Circuit determined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) funding structure unconstitutional:“Today, the Fifth Circuit chose to favor Wall Street over consumers. After more than a decade of coordinated and sustained attacks on consumers, and repeated failures to weaken the CFPB, big corporations and anti-consu… Continue Reading
October 14, 2022
Brown Statement on U.S. Bank Merger Approval and Fed Rulemaking
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement after the Federal Reserve announced its approval of the U.S. Bank-MUFG merger.“I have long raised concerns about megabank mergers and consolidation. They increase risks to our financial system, decrease competition, and lead to branch closures, which can hurt consumers and communities,” said Brown. “I look forward to working with the Fed to address these … Continue Reading
September 22, 2022
Brown to Banks: You Must Do Right By Your Customers, Workers, and Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled “Annual Oversight of the Nation’s Largest Banks.”Earlier this week, the Democratic staff of the Committee released snapshots highlighting the consumer abuses of each of the banks that testified at today’s hearing.For years, Senate Democrats have pressed the biggest banks to do right by their customer… Continue Reading
September 21, 2022
Ahead of Big Bank Hearing, Banking Democrats Release Snapshots on JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs released snapshots highlighting the consumer abuses of two of the nation’s largest megabanks, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo - along with Bank of America, Citi, Truist, PNC, and U.S. Bank - play an outsized role in our financial system and economy. They serve hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses and have assets of $13 trillion that… Continue Reading
September 20, 2022
Brown Statement on FDIC Nominees
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement after President Biden announced the nominations of Jonathan McKernan and Travis Hill to be board members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).“The FDIC keeps our banking system safe, insures our deposits, and helps support our nation’s smallest banks. It requires experienced leadership and a board that will focus on prote… Continue Reading
September 20, 2022
Ahead of Big Bank Hearing, Banking Democrats Release Snapshots on Citi and Bank of America
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs released snapshots highlighting the consumer abuses of two of the nation’s largest megabanks, Citi and Bank of America.Bank of America and Citi - along with, Truist, PNC, U.S. Bank, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo - play an outsized role in our financial system and economy. They serve hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses and have assets of $13 trillion that repres… Continue Reading
September 20, 2022
Brown: Sanctions Are a Necessary Tool to End Russian Aggression
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled “Tightening the Screws on Russia: Smart Sanctions, Economic Statecraft, and Next Steps.”Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has massacred innocent civilian communities, leveled cities, weaponized food and energy sources, imperiled the security of a n… Continue Reading
September 19, 2022
Ahead of Big Bank Hearing, Banking Democrats Release Snapshots on PNC, Truist, US Bancorp
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs released snapshots highlighting the consumer abuses of three of the nation’s largest regional banks, U.S. Bancorp, PNC, and Truist.U.S. Bancorp, PNC, and Truist - along with Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo - play an outsized role in our financial system and economy. They serve hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses and have assets of $13 trill… Continue Reading
