By David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday that authorities took “decisive actions” in response to the failures of First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank to strengthen public confidence in the banking system and would continue to do so.
In a statement to the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, Treasury acting assistant secretary for economic policy Eric Van Nostrand said there were positive indications that present credit concerns “are not systemic, persistent, or worsening,” but financial instability and financial sector contagion were important risks to monitor.
Treasury has said little so far about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp’s auction of First Republic’s assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co to resolve the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.
“Today, the banking system remains sound and well capitalized, and we have even seen important signs of strength and stabilization across regional banks,” Van Nostrand said in the statement as the Treasury issued new borrowing estimates.
“The U.S. government is committed to taking action to ensure the system is safe, depositors can feel secure, and institutions can provide credit to families and businesses,” he added.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
