美国国家公共电台 NPR--White House: smaller community banks shouldn't shoulder the tab for 2 failed banks

White House: smaller community banks shouldn't shoulder the tab for 2 failed banks

Transcript¹

The collapse² of two regional banks is expected to cost the government's deposit insurance fund more than $22 billion. The Biden administration says smaller banks shouldn't have to pick up the tab.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

The price tag for two big bank failures this month is expected to top $22 billion. The Biden administration says small community banks should not be stuck with that bill. That's one of several recommendations the White House is making to bank regulators. And it comes after two days of congressional hearings with lots of finger-pointing about who's to blame for the collapse of the banks and how to prevent similar meltdowns. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now. Hi, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE³: Good morning, Sacha.

PFEIFFER: Scott, the White House has been adamant⁴ that taxpayers⁵ will not be on the hook for this bailout. So where is the money going to come from?

HORSLEY: It's going to come from other banks. And as you say, it's a lot of money. Remember, the government decided⁶ to backstop all the customers at Silicon⁷ Valley Bank, and the vast majority of those deposits were over the $250,000 limit that's typically covered by deposit insurance. By law, the FDIC has to recover any shortfall in its insurance fund by imposing⁸ a special assessment⁹. That's a kind of one-time tax on other banks around the country. And that brought howls of protest this week from lawmakers like Andy Barr of Kentucky.

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ANDY BARR: The vast majority of community banks in my district are well managed, and those Kentucky banks and their customers have been asking me why they should have to pay an assessment for your rescue of Silicon Valley Bank with a 100% guarantee of deposits of largely wealthy, sophisticated depositors. I think this is a legitimate¹⁰ question.

HORSLEY: In fact, it's a question we heard over and over this week from members of Congress. Now, the FDIC does have some latitude¹¹ to decide how the bill is divvied up among different categories of banks. And the FDIC is expected to spell out its recovery formula in just about a month.

PFEIFFER: Scott, this legislator just addressed this question in part, but why is the White House trying to protect community banks from being saddled with this cost?

HORSLEY: The administration's argument's twofold. First, it says community banks were not to blame for the problems at Silicon Valley. And second, they say they want to maintain a healthy mix of banks of all different sizes. You know, historically, the U.S. has tended to have a lot more small banks than many other countries. And Treasury¹² Secretary Janet Yellen said last week that while big banks are certainly important for the economy, small banks provide services in a way that a lot of those big banks can't match.

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JANET YELLEN: These banks provide vital credit and financial support to families and small businesses and often have specialized¹³ knowledge and expertise¹⁴ in the communities they invest in.

HORSLEY: Now, this episode has also prompted a fresh look at deposit insurance overall, whether that $250,000 limit is too low, especially for businesses and needs to be raised. If it is, how would that cost be shared among different banks? Unlike the special assessment, that's something that's going to take an act of Congress.

PFEIFFER: Scott, the White House is also recommending some beefed-up oversight¹⁵ of mid-sized banks. What can you tell us about that?

HORSLEY: Yeah, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has shown that even a mid-sized bank failure can do a lot of damage, especially if depositors at other banks get spooked and start to pull their money out. So the administration is urging regulators to impose stricter rules on banks that are the size that Silicon Valley was. Rules like that had been put in place after the financial crisis under the Dodd-Frank law. But those rules were watered down in recent years, starting during the Trump¹⁶ administration. The Biden administration has put in a new crop of regulators, and they're likely to pursue a tougher approach. Now, all of this is just a suggestion from the administration. These are independent regulatory agencies. But since Biden did appoint a lot of the regulators, the suggestion is likely to be taken seriously.

PFEIFFER: NPR's Scott Horsley, thank you.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

5 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

8 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

11 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

12 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

13 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

14 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

15 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

16 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。