Majority Press Releases
Brown Presses Banks on Voice Authentication Services
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent letters to six large banks that offer voice authentication services, outlining concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) generated voice clips can allow fraudulent actors to break into customers’ accounts. “Despite these breaches, financial institutions continue to market voice authentication as safe and reliable without identifyin… Continue Reading
May 4, 2023
Brown: Executives Should Face Real Consequences For Their Actions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Holding Executives Accountable After Recent Bank Failures.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Most Americans who put their money in a bank should trust that it will be safe. They shouldn’t have to give it a second thought. That money isn̵… Continue Reading
May 3, 2023
Brown Applauds SEC’s Final Buyback Reporting Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, issued the following statement after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules enhancing stock buyback disclosures. “Americans need to know that instead of raising wages, scaling up production, and investing in research and development, corporate executives spend billions on buybacks that enrich themselves and Wall Street. … Continue Reading
May 2, 2023
Brown Raises Concerns About Tellus’s Handling of Customers’ Money
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote a letter to Martin Gruenberg, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), outlining concerns with Tellus, a nonbank “fintech” company that advertises high-interest savings accounts, despite not being insured by the FDIC. In his letter, Brown urged that the FDIC review Tellus’ business practices to ensure that cust… Continue Reading
May 2, 2023
Brown: Flooding is Devastating Families, Homes, Businesses, and Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program: Improving Community Resilience.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: This hearing is a continuation of our efforts to enact a long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program. T… Continue Reading
May 1, 2023
Brown Statement on First Republic
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) issued the following statement regarding the failure of First Republic Bank. “First Republic Bank’s risky behavior, unique business model, and management failures led to significant problems, and it’s clear we need stronger guardrails in place,” said Brown. “We must make large banks more resilient against failure so that we protect financial stability and ensure competition in the long run.… Continue Reading
April 28, 2023
Brown Statement on Fed and FDIC Reviews
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) issued the following statement after the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released reports on the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank Failures: “These reports confirm how poorly managed, overconcentrated, and over-reliant on particular industries both of these banks were. It is also clear that supervision fell short here. We must address gaps in the Fed and FDIC’s supervi… Continue Reading
April 28, 2023
Brown, Gallego Introduce Bill to Plant Trees, Reduce Urban Heat
In recognition of Arbor Day, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) introduced the Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act, legislation to create a grant program through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that would provide funding to local governments and nonprofit organizations for heat mitigation efforts. “As climate change worsens, excess heat and rising surface temperatures are putting… Continue Reading
April 27, 2023
Brown Holds Credit Report CEOs Accountable For Errors, Data Breaches
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Credit Reporting Agencies.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: The three witnesses today determine the financial futures of every American. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are the biggest credit reporting agencies. You have tremen… Continue Reading
April 26, 2023
Brown Chairs Hearing on Bipartisan Bills to Address Housing Crisis
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, “Building Consensus to Address Housing Challenges.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: In February we heard from witnesses about the housing challenges that families and their communities face. We heard that more than two-thirds of families aren&… Continue Reading
April 25, 2023
Banking Committee Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Address the Fentanyl Crisis
The leaders of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs today introduced the bipartisan Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, a sanctions and anti-money laundering bill aimed at combatting the country’s fentanyl crisis by targeting the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from the chemical suppliers in China to the cartels that traffic the drugs in from Mexico. By strengthening current law and directing the Treasury Department to target, sancti… Continue Reading
April 21, 2023
Brown Applauds New SIFI Guidance Proposal to Strengthen Financial Stability
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement regarding new proposed guidance from the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) on Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFI). “As too many families in Ohio and across the country experienced in 2007-2008, when a financial crisis hits, working families are hit first and the hardest,” sai… Continue Reading
April 20, 2023
Brown Urges Review Of Failed Banks' Borrowing From FHLBanks
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson about Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) System advances made to Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank leading up to the banks’ failures. The letter requests that FHFA include an analysis of the events around these bank failures in the agen… Continue Reading
April 18, 2023
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 Dr. Jared Bernstein, of Virginia, to be Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Executive Office of the President; Dr. Ron Borzekowski, of Maryland, to be Director of Financial Research, Department of the Treasury; Mr. Solomon Jeffrey Greene, of the District of … Continue Reading
March 31, 2023
Cortez Masto Introduces Legislation to Incentivize Whistleblowers to Report Consumer Fraud
Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced the Financial Compensation for CFPB Whistleblowers Act to authorize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to award financial compensation to whistleblowers who report wrongdoing to the Consumer Bureau. The bill is cosponsored by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Bernard Sanders (I-VT… Continue Reading
March 31, 2023
Brown, Colleagues Call for Action to Strengthen Financial Stability
Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, led eleven of his colleagues on the Banking and Housing Committee in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, urging the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and its member agencies to review how our financial system is serving consumers, small businesses, and small banks, and to recommend ways we can strengthen our financial system against threats. “Banking reg… Continue Reading
March 30, 2023
Brown, Colleagues Raise Flags Regarding Failed Bank Executives’ Stock Trades
Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, led eleven of his colleagues on the Banking and Housing Committee in a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler highlighting concerns with large stock trades made by Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) executives in the days and months before SVB’s collapse. At the Banking and Housing Committee hearing on Tuesday about SVB’s failur… Continue Reading
March 28, 2023
Brown, Colleagues Call for Review of Bank Regulators’ Supervisory Practices
Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, led his colleagues in a letter to Gene Dodaro, the Comptroller General of the United States, to re-examine the supervisory practices of bank regulators that are responsible for ensuring depository institutions operate in a safe and sound manner. In 2019, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that examined the supervisory activities of bank regulators. The Se… Continue Reading
March 28, 2023
Brown: Our Banking System Should Serve Working Families and Small Businesses
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, “Recent Bank Failures and the Federal Regulatory Response.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thanks to the New Deal and the hard work of our regulators today, most bank failures, while never a good thing, are generally not a big deal. But the q… Continue Reading
March 23, 2023
Brown Applauds Second Circuit Ruling on CFPB
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 Second Circuit ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) funding structure is constitutional.“Today, in a step forward for consumers and working families, the Second Circuit unanimously ruled that the CFPB’s independent funding is constitutional, rejecting the Fifth Circuit’s deeply flawed ruling,” said Brow… Continue Reading
