United States Democratic Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren slammed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for "directly doing the bank industry's bidding" by considering potential changes to the financial industry's regulations at JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's "behest," CNBC reported on Tuesday.
"I am disappointed by press reports indicating that you are personally intervening—after numerous meetings with big bank CEOs—to delay and water down the Basel III capital rules," Warren wrote in the letter addressed to Powell and dated June 17, stressing that this set of rules is "critical" and "long overdue" given the failure of Silicon Valley and Signature Bank.
"Your opposition to the Basel III rules is not new," the senator said, accusing Powell of "taking orders" from the industry that caused the "2008 economic meltdown," further criticizing the Federal Reserve's chair to do his job and allow the board to vote on a 16% capital increase by June 30.