Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, wants to bring the big bank CEOs back to Capitol Hill for another grilling.
The chief executives of Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), Bank of America (BAC), State Street (STT), Bank of New York Mellon (BK) and Goldman Sachs (GS) testified in an all-day hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Lawmakers questioned the executives on wide range of issues, including bank CEO pay, leveraged lending and the banks’ relationships with gun companies.
Brown is now urging the Senate Banking Committee chairman, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), to hold a Senate hearing with the executives.
“I want them to explain to the American public what they're doing, why they're doing it, how they're doing it, and be assured that we're not going to face another bailout situation,” said Brown in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
Brown has long been a fierce critic of Wall Street.
“We've seen nobody go to jail in the banking industry for causing the economy almost to collapse,” said Brown.
Earlier this year, Brown urged regulators to oust Tim Sloan as CEO of Wells Fargo. Sloan resigned last month, shortly after testifying before the House Financial Services Committee.
The senator from Ohio also slammed his colleagues in Congress for having “collective amnesia” about the financial crisis. Brown fought against the bipartisan rollback of some banking regulations last year.
“We've seen banks continue to cheat customers. We’ve seen banks continue to violate federal rules,” said Brown. “I mean the White House looks like a retreat for Wall Street executives.”
Brown told Yahoo Finance he’s talked to Crapo about holding the hearing, but has not gotten a commitment.
Crapo’s banking committee staff did not respond to a request for comment.
Even if the executives don’t visit the Senate side of Capitol Hill — they may have to come back to Washington in the not-so-distant future.
At the end of Wednesday’s House hearing, Chairwoman Maxine Waters said she would call the CEOs back next year.
“I promise you next year when you come, I will not have all of you come at one time,” Waters said “I’m going to divide it up because it’s been a long day for all of you and for all of us.”
Jessica Smith is a reporter for Yahoo Finance based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Twitter at @JessicaASmith8.
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