Main Wall Avenue financial institution executives will seem earlier than the US Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday to debate the position of the
Main Wall Avenue financial institution executives will seem earlier than the US Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday to debate the position of their monetary establishments within the restoration of the American economic system.
Democratic lawmakers plan to grill quite a lot of main financial institution execs, whose corporations noticed document income throughout the COVID-19 pandemic whereas common Individuals struggled to make ends meet.
In ready testimonies posted on Tuesday, CEOs on the Financial institution of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo described their respective banks’ responses to main challenges resembling inequality, range, local weather change, taxes, in addition to how their banks deal with cryptocurrencies.
This 12 months noticed a document bull run in cryptocurrency markets as main monetary establishments opened as much as digital belongings, including buying and selling desks and custody wings to deal with consumer pursuits in main cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC).
In his testimony, Financial institution of America CEO Brian Moynihan mentioned that the financial institution is continuous to judge the advantages, dangers and consumer demand for crypto-related services. “At present, we don’t lend towards cryptocurrencies and don’t financial institution corporations whose main enterprise is cryptocurrency or the facilitation of cryptocurrency buying and selling and funding,” he mentioned.
Moynihan mentioned that BofA can be assessing new applied sciences like distributed ledger expertise, which may doubtlessly ship worth to the financial institution’s clients. Nevertheless, whereas BofA holds over 60 blockchain patents, the financial institution nonetheless has “not discovered a use case at scale,” Moynihan mentioned.
Equally, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser additionally outlined a measured strategy to crypto, stating that the financial institution might want to guarantee clear controls and governance earlier than partaking with cryptocurrencies. “Citi is focusing sources and efforts to know modifications within the digital asset house and the usage of distributed ledger expertise, together with demand and curiosity by our shoppers, regulatory developments and expertise developments,” Fraser wrote.
Wells Fargo CEO and president Charles Scharf mentioned that the corporate has been carefully following developments round cryptocurrencies. Digital belongings “have emerged as various funding merchandise although their standing as a foreign money and mechanism of fee stays fluid,” Scharf famous. The exec additionally talked about that Wells Fargo is getting ready to roll out a pilot for a blockchain-based settlement service inside the financial institution’s international department community.
The Senate Banking and Home Monetary Providers committees may even hear from the CEOs of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. The latter two launched restricted crypto companies earlier this 12 months, whereas the previous is reportedly mulling opening a crypto buying and selling desk.