Ever since Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed, I've been working to prevent failures like those from happening again.

Part of it means stronger laws. Part of it means tougher oversight. But deterring this kind of risky behavior also means making sure the people responsible for it don’t get rewarded.

You see, bank executives had dollar signs in their eyes when they successfully lobbied for weaker regulations in the Trump era. With less rules and oversight, they juiced their salaries and their bonuses by taking on more and more risk in the short-term. Their get-rich-quick scheme worked great — until the banks exploded last week.

Let’s take Greg Becker of SVB for instance. He took home $9.9 million in compensation last year, including a $1.5 million bonus for boosting bank profitability — and its riskiness. And there’s Joseph DePaolo of Signature Bank, who got $8.6 million in the same year.

Even last Friday, just hours before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation rushed to take over SVB, executives were busy paying out congratulatory bonuses — leaving countless businesses and non‌profits with accounts at the bank alarmed that they wouldn’t be able to pay their bills and employees.

We should claw all of that pay and bonuses back, and prosecutors and regulators should investigate whether any executives engaged in insider trading ‌or broke other civil or criminal laws. Add your name if you agree. [[link removed]]

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Make no mistake: If those executives walk away with millions of dollars for running their banks into the ground — for gambling with the survival of small businesses, nonprofits, and the health of our economy — it’ll be a big, blazing neon sign encouraging other bank CEOs to run the same playbook.

The executives responsible for the recent bank failures must face legal and financial consequences — and we must bring back strong banking regulations in order to prevent the next crisis.

This past week, I wrote letters to the ex-CEOs of SVB and Signature Bank, asking for details on SVB’s last-minute bonuses, as well as all the compensation and bonuses the executives received in the past 10 years, what specific metrics they met to earn those bonuses, and whether they got any bonuses for successfully lobbying to limit regulation of SVB and Signature.

Look, when Wall Street greed crashed our economy and destroyed millions of lives in the 2008 financial crisis, bankers walked away with multi-million-dollar bonuses. It was outrageous.

Now we’re watching this start to unfold again. I’m fighting so that these Big Bank executives can’t continue getting away with this.

Add your name if you agree: The executives responsible for these bank failures should not be rewarded — and must be held accountable. [[link removed]]

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Thanks for being a part of this,

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Warren is leading the charge to hold Big Banks accountable and pass strong regulations that protect consumers and our economy. If you’re able, please chip in to support this critical work.
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