WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and all ten of his Democratic colleagues on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs sent a letter to Chairman Tim Scott calling on him to delay the nomination hearing of President Trump’s Fed Nominee, Kevin Warsh, until all pretextual investigations against current Federal Reserve Board members are closed. In addition to Sen. Warner, signers of the letter to Scott include Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tina Smith (D-MN), Raphael Wanock (D-GA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD). 

“The (Warsh) nomination comes after months of repeated efforts by President Trump and his Administration to influence the Fed by intimidation, including by opening criminal investigations into Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Fed Chair Jerome Powell. These ongoing efforts by the President to control the Fed - which must be able to exercise independent judgment - undermine public confidence in any nomination for chair at this time,” wrote the Banking Committee Democrats.

The Banking Committee Democrats continued, “We demand that you delay any nomination proceedings for Mr. Warsh until after the pretextual criminal investigations involving Chair Powell and Governor Cook have been closed.”

The senators wrote, “The Administration’s apparent effort to seize control of the Fed through criminal prosecutions is dangerous and unprecedented. It would be absurd on its face to allow President Trump to handpick the next Chair of the Federal Reserve as his Department of Justice actively pursues criminal investigations of not one, but two sitting members of the Federal Reserve Board. This Committee should not participate in this farcical effort that threatens to undermine our democracy and confidence in our financial markets.”

Read the full letter here. 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) today introduced the Keeping Deposits Local Act, bipartisan legislation to modernize outdated rules on reciprocal deposits. Reciprocal deposits allow community banks to offer customers full FDIC insurance while keeping those dollars working in local communities. This legislation updates current statutory thresholds to make it easier for community and regional banks to receive non-brokered treatment for reciprocal deposits. Majority Whip Rep Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) lead the companion legislation in the House.

“This bipartisan bill helps ensure community and regional banks can keep more capital working in their local economies,” said Sen. Warner. “By replacing the current one-size-fits-all cap with a tiered system, this legislation gives local banks the flexibility they need to better serve their customers and keep money close to home.”

“Reciprocal deposits provide a stable and low-cost source of funds for lending and investment in South Dakota communities,” said Sen. Rounds. “In fact, more than a third of banks headquartered in South Dakota utilize reciprocal deposits. They are relationship-based, core deposits that help our community banks retain local customers. By tailoring the rules, this legislation removes the outdated cap on reciprocal deposits for community banks. That flexibility will help South Dakota banks keep deposits local and strengthens the resilience of our financial system – a lesson reinforced by the bank failures in 2023.”

Under the bill, reciprocal deposits would be eligible for non-brokered status based on the following thresholds:

• 50% of a bank’s first $1 billion of liabilities
• 40% of a bank’s liabilities above $1 billion but not above $10 billion
• 30% of a bank’s liabilities above $10 billion but not above $250 billion
• 20% of a bank’s liabilities above $250 billion but not above $1 trillion
• 2% of a bank’s liabilities above $1 trillion

The bill would also stipulate that CAMELS 3-rated banks are eligible for full use of non-brokered treatment for reciprocal deposits as long as they are well-capitalized.

This legislation is supported by the National Bankers Association (NBA), the Community Development Bankers Association (CDBA) and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).

Read the full text of the bill here.

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WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, led a group of colleagues in introducing the Defending Our Government's Electronic data: Bolstering Responsible Oversight & Safeguards (DOGE BROS) Act, legislation to hold Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) accountable for their continued efforts to improperly access, and retain, individuals’ personally identifiable information (PII) including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers, and other financial information.

“As unvetted and unqualified DOGE employees continue to recklessly access the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans, it’s important that we take steps to better protect this data,” Sen. Warner said. “For too long, our privacy laws have sat outdated, barely serving as a deterrent for improper handling or potential release of information. This legislation would enforce that privacy must be a priority when handling the data of the American public.”

Joining Sen. Warner in introducing the DOGE BROS Act are U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

“Elon Musk and his ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ are wreaking havoc across the government and gaining access to Americans’ sensitive information without proper authorization, which poses significant privacy and national security concerns,” Sen. Kaine said. “That’s why I’m introducing this bill to increase the penalties for violating privacy laws and help safeguard Americans’ personal information.”

“Elon Musk and his DOGE cronies have been illegally ransacking federal agencies to gain access to troves of Americans’ sensitive personal data – from Social Security numbers to medical records to bank account information. Strengthening penalties for the theft of this data will help further deter these illegal abuses and keep Americans’ private information safe,” Sen. Van Hollen said.

“The American people do not want Elon Musk knowing their Social Security numbers and sifting through their financial information. Musk and his team of wildly unqualified DOGE employees have gone too far – and we are sick of it. The Senate needs to prove we care more about those we serve than Elon Musk. Let’s immediately pass this legislation to protect the data and privacy of the American people,” Sen. Alsobrooks said.

“From day one, Elon Musk’s DOGE has taken a wrecking ball to the federal government and critical services for the American people, all while carelessly pursuing their sensitive personal data,” Sen. Luján said. “Congress must do more to protect that information and keep it out of the wrong hands. That’s why I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing legislation to strengthen our privacy laws and put Americans’ privacy first.”

“Elon Musk’s so-called ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ and his DOGE agents are wreaking havoc on the federal government and the programs millions of Americans rely on. There’s no reason DOGE should gain access to Vermonters’ personal information, and I’m working with my colleagues to hold DOGE accountable and protect peoples’ privacy and data,” Sen. Welch said. 

The United States has existing laws that are designed to protect personal information held by the government. However, the penalties established in these various laws have not been properly adjusted or increased to account for inflation, making them far less impactful today. The DOGE BROS Act would increase five penalties for violation of federal privacy laws to better protect the sensitive information that DOGE is accessing in their reckless purge of the federal government. Specifically, the DOGE BROS Act would increase the following existing penalties for the unauthorized release of the following information:

1. Individually Identifiable Information Contained Within Any Agency Record  

• Code Section: 5 U.S.C. §552a(i)(i, ii, iii)
• Current Penalty: up to $5,000
• Proposed Penalty: up to $30,000

2. Information from Any Department or Agency of the United States Obtained Using a Computer Without Authorization

• Code Section: 18 U.S.C. 1030(a)(2)(B)
• Current Penalty: up to $250,000
• Proposed Penalty: up to $750,000

3. Social Security and Medicare Data

• Code Sections: 42 U.S.C. §1306
• Current Penalty: up to $10,000
• Proposed Penalty: up to $25,000

4. Tax Return Information

• Code Section: 26 U.S.C. §7213
• Current Penalty: up to $5,000
• Proposed Penalty: up to $25,000

5. Census Data

• Code Section: 13 U.S.C. §214
• Current Penalty: up to $5,000
• Proposed Penalty: up to $25,000

Copy of the bill text is available here.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today joined a bipartisan group of colleagues to introduce the Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act – bipartisan legislation that would require federal regulators to claw back up to three years of compensation received by big bank executives, board members, controlling shareholders, and other key decision-makers in the event of a failure or resolution.

“Executives of failed banks shouldn’t profit from their mismanagement,” said Sen. Mark Warner. “This bipartisan legislation would allow regulators to hold managers financially accountable for running a bank into the ground.”

In the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse it was reported that CEO Greg Becker sold a reported $3.6 million in SVB stock, potentially profiting off the impending demise of the very bank he managed, while other SVB employees received bonuses just hours before the government stepped in to close the bank.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) currently has limited ability to claw back executive compensation in the event of a bank failure. The Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act would give federal bank regulators the tools they need to hold the executives of big failed banks responsible for the costs that those failures exact on the rest of the banking system and the economy.

The Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act would:

• Require the FDIC to claw back from large bank executives all or part of the compensation they received over the three-year period preceding their bank’s failure or FDIC resolution;
• Apply to directors, officers, controlling shareholders, and other high-level persons involved in decision-making of banks with $10 billion or more in assets who caused more than a minimal financial loss to, or had a significant adverse effect on, the bank;
• Direct funds clawed back from executives into the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund;
• Extend claw back authorities established by Section 204(a)(3) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to apply to any bank entered into FDIC receivership, not solely those resolved under the FDIC’s Orderly Liquidation Authority. 

In March of this year, immediately following the collapse of SVB, Sen. Warner cosponsored the DEPOSIT Act and the Bank Management Accountability Act, similar efforts to ensure that bank executives do not profit in the wake of bank failures.

A copy of the bill text is available here. A one-pager is available here.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, released the following statement:

“After an unprecedented and reckless run on Silicon Valley Bank, there were very real risks of instability spreading to other institutions and undermining our national security and technology innovation ecosystem. The Federal Reserve, the FDIC and the Treasury Department have together acted as Congress intended when we wrote Dodd-Frank by acting swiftly and responsibly to protect depositors and make sure that our financial system remains stable, while at the same time making clear that bank shareholders and bondholders shouldn’t expect any kind of bailout by the taxpayers. Their quick action will help companies make payroll and preserve jobs all across the country.”

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 WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), senior members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, introduced legislation to improve the collection and publication of data collected by federal financial regulatory agencies. The Financial Data Transparency Act requires financial regulators to develop common standards that promote the organization, readability, and availability of financial data they collect from regulated institutions – rules that will make data easier for the public to use and for agencies to process.

“I have long pushed to modernize our government’s technology infrastructure, and the Financial Data Transparency Act marks another important step toward more consistency and transparency in government data collection and use,” said Sen. Warner. “I’m proud to work once again with Senator Crapo on these issues. We look forward to providing greater transparency and usability for investors and consumers, along with streamlined data submissions and compliance for our regulated institutions.” 

“Thank you to Senator Warner for his ongoing work with me on these issues,” said Sen. Crapo. “Making financial data used by federal regulators more accessible and understandable to the American public is an important step in improving government transparency and accountability.”

The Financial Data Transparency Act will make information reported to financial regulators electronically searchable, reducing the private sector’s regulatory compliance burdens while enhancing transparency and accountability to the benefit of consumers and investors. Specifically, the legislation directs the Department of the Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Bureau of the Consumer Financial Protection, Federal Reserve Board, National Credit Union Administration, and Federal Housing Finance Agency to implement data standards developed through a joint rulemaking.

Text of this legislation is available here. A fact sheet is available here. 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, released the following statement after the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced a proposed change to regulations surrounding the Community Reinvestment Act:

“I am pleased that federal banking agencies worked together to produce this joint notice of proposed rulemaking to modernize and strengthen their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act. The CRA is one of the best tools we have to drive investments in underserved and underbanked communities, but it needs to be updated to reflect the fundamental changes we have seen in the banking sector since 1995, the last time there were significant revisions to the rules. As a former entrepreneur, I understand how important access to capital is to start a business and build wealth. Ensuring broader access to affordable credit, whether it’s to buy a house, start a business, or pay for emergency expenses, is vital to address inequalities and close the racial wealth gap. I look forward to reviewing the proposed rule in coordination with all stakeholders to ensure we end up with a strengthened, 21st-century CRA that can continue to drive meaningful change in low- and moderate-income communities.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the committee, today called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require companies to report on how many workers they employ who are not classified as full-time employees, including independent and subcontracted workers.

“We believe that the disclosure of this data is critical to fully capture companies’ human capital management. We applaud the SEC for focusing on strengthening human capital disclosures as part of its regulatory agenda,” wrote the senators in a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. “It is clear that investors need more information to understand how companies treat people, the most critical asset of any company. We agree that investors need disclosures that include quantifiable and comparable datasets that clearly articulate a company’s human capital management, such as metrics on turnover, skills and development training, compensation, benefits, workforce demographic, and health and safety… That picture would be wholly incomplete, however, if companies are not required to disclose information about the number of independent contractors they use on a regular basis and the entire workforce that is material to their business strategy.”

Examples of subcontracted out workers considered part of the material workforce include security personnel, janitors, food service workers, housekeepers for hotels and lodging real estate investment trusts (REIT), and custodial workers.

“In recent decades, companies have replaced in-house operations with contracting, on-demand work, or other forms of independent and contracted work that lower short-term costs for the business but come at the expense of workers, who receive fewer benefits, lower wages, and have less upward mobility within the organization. This is one of the defining tensions that has emerged as companies have prioritized short-term profits at the expense of investments in their workforce and long-term productivity. As you know, these decisions have material effects on a business’ financial performance,” the senators noted.

Concluded the senators, “We appreciate the SEC is working towards the shared goal of ensuring that investors and shareholders have the information they need to understand companies’ human capital management, a critical piece of understanding a company’s performance as well as potential long-term, systemic risks to the U.S. economy. We urge you to ensure that future SEC rulemaking captures this long-term trend of companies’ increasing use of outsourcing, independent contractors, and subcontracting, which will be a critical data point in understanding companies’ human capital management.”

Sen. Warner, a former entrepreneur and venture capitalist, has long stressed the importance of updating human capital disclosure requirements to reflect the priorities of modern companies. In May, Sen. Warner introduced the Workforce Investment Disclosure Act, which would require public companies to disclose basic human capital metrics, including workforce turnover rates, skills and development training, workforce health and safety, workforce engagement, and compensation statistics.

A full copy of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Chairman Gensler:

We are writing to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to ensure that, as part of its agenda to improve human capital disclosure, companies report on the numbers of their workers who are not classified as full-time employees, including independent contractors, as well as the entire workforce that is material to the company and its investors (the “material workforce”) such as subcontracted workers. We believe that the disclosure of this data is critical to fully capture companies’ human capital management.

We applaud the SEC for focusing on strengthening human capital disclosures as part of its regulatory agenda. It is clear that investors need more information to understand how companies treat people, the most critical asset of any company. We agree that investors need disclosures that include quantifiable and comparable datasets that clearly articulate a company’s human capital management, such as metrics on turnover, skills and development training, compensation, benefits, workforce demographic, and health and safety. As you have indicated in prior remarks, “Large and small investors, representing literally tens of trillions of dollars, are looking for consistent, comparable, and decision-useful disclosures in these areas to determine whether to invest, sell, or make a voting decision one way or another.”

That picture would be wholly incomplete, however, if companies are not required to disclose information about the number of independent contractors they use on a regular basis and the entire workforce that is material to their business strategy. Examples of subcontracted out workers that should be considered part of the material workforce include security personnel, janitors, food service workers, housekeepers for hotels and lodging real estate investment trusts (REIT), and custodial workers. In recent decades, companies have replaced in-house operations with contracting, on-demand work, or other forms of independent and contracted work that lower short-term costs for the business but come at the expense of workers, who receive fewer benefits, lower wages, and have less upward mobility within the organization. This is one of the defining tensions that has emerged as companies have prioritized short-term profits at the expense of investments in their workforce and long-term productivity. As you know, these decisions have material effects on a business’ financial performance. 

We appreciate the SEC is working towards the shared goal of ensuring that investors and shareholders have the information they need to understand companies’ human capital management, a critical piece of understanding a company’s performance as well as potential long-term, systemic risks to the U.S. economy. We urge you to ensure that future SEC rulemaking captures this long-term trend of companies’ increasing use of outsourcing, independent contractors, and subcontracting, which will be a critical data point in understanding companies’ human capital management. 

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, released the following statement on the Department of Labor’s proposed rule enabling retirement plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in their decision-making:

“I am glad that the Employee Benefits Security Administration has moved to reverse one of the Trump Administration’s efforts to ignore the calamitous effects of climate change, including its associated financial risks, by proposing a rule enabling retirement plans to consider Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations in investment decisions. Companies do not operate in a vacuum and investment fiduciaries should have the ability to consider sustainability of the broader community without running afoul of their fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders. With the publication of this proposed rule, the Biden Administration has taken a step towards protecting the long-term financial security of pensioners and workers across the country.

“This proposed rule also highlights the continued importance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) effort to establish clear ESG disclosure requirements for publicly traded companies. Investors increasingly clamor for consistent ESG reporting because they understand companies that invest in their workers, minimize harmful environmental impacts, and enact strong worker safety measures, also tend to perform better in the long-run.” 

Under the proposed rule, retirement plan administrators will continue to act in the sole interest of the plan’s participants but will now be able to more freely include ESG factors, including in their initial analysis of investment options. Sen. Warner has previously called on Congress to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to require consideration of ESG factors as part of fiduciary duty. While this rule does not require consideration of ESG factors by plan managers, it grants critical flexibility to do so.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, released a statement today: 

“Legal experts, senior banking officials, and former Republican and Democratic regulatory officials all agree: the proposal to pull back on the Fed’s 13(3) authority would set a terrible precedent, hurt the Fed’s independence, and weaken its ability to respond quickly to future crises.”

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) participated in a virtual Senate Banking Committee hearing on the COVID-19 economic response with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. During the hearing, Sen. Warner stressed the need for another COVID-19 relief package that properly supports Main Street and stimulates local economies by making significant investments targeted towards affected communities.

Sen. Warner specifically highlighted his Jobs and Neighborhood Investment Act, legislation he authored to provide eligible community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs) with capital, liquidity, and operational capacity to serve minority and historically disadvantaged communities.

In his remarks at the beginning of the questioning period, Sen. Warner addressed his Jobs and Neighborhood Investment Act saying, “This would take billions of unallocated funds from the CARES Act and directly invest them into MDIs and CDFIs, which, as the secretary explained, would dramatically leverage those dollars and help minority businesses that – as Sen. Scott so accurately pointed out – really have been disproportionately hurt. 420,000 black-owned businesses have shut down and we can and must do better. Chairman Powell, I know we’ve gone back and forth on this but I would argue – I know you said earlier in the week in your testimony that you were concerned with Main Street going smaller, below 250, and the Fed’s capacity to deal with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of loans. I would argue the way to deal with that, or at least one tool to deal with that, would be the direct equity infusion into those MDIs and CDFIs whose goal and purpose is to lend to these smaller institutions. You wouldn’t have to necessarily grapple with all the individual loans but you could make these kind of investments and Fed support programs for these institutions that service that community.”

Stressing the need for robust and targeted Main Street relief, Sen. Warner criticized Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s effort to put forward a plan that fell dramatically short of matching the scale of the COVID-19 economic crisis. In his line of questioning, Sen. Warner asked Chairman Powell to address the desperate need for targeted but robust relief for those most affected.

In response to Sen. Warner’s question, Chairman Powell said, “I would say that the recovery we’ve had so far owes in significant degree to the CARES Act and the support that Congress provided in conjunction with the Administration. I think that while the economy has been doing better than expected, there’s downside risk to that if there is no further fiscal support. There are still something like 11 million people who have not gotten their jobs back. Those people are able to spend now because of the checks that they got and the enhanced unemployment insurance that they got. There’s downside risk to the economy probably coming if some form of that support doesn’t continue.”

Sen. Warner also asked the witnesses about the long-term risk to the economy, asking whether the economic risk would be greater in over-stimulating or under-stimulating the economy.

In response, Chairman Powell said, “We’re going have to – we will come back to a place where we need to get the U.S. Federal government on a sustainable fiscal path but I wouldn’t prioritize that now when we’re in the middle of the pandemic.”

Sen. Warner, a former technology entrepreneur, has long worked to provide financial relief to the American economy amid the COVID-19 crisis. A comprehensive list of his COVID-19-related work is available here. 

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WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) was joined by several members of the Senate Banking Committee in a pair of letters to financial regulators and trade groups urging our nation’s financial sector to prepare for the likely impacts of the coronavirus and take steps to protect consumers who may suffer financially as a result of a coronavirus outbreak.  

In a letter to leaders of the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHDA), and Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), the Senators called on the regulators to provide financial institutions with guidance to help assist individuals and communities affected by coronavirus.

“As Americans seek to comply with CDC guidance and protect the well-being of their families, many consumers may face negative shocks to household finances, including challenges with paying their day-to-day bills, credit cards, student loans, small business loans and mortgage payments, among other financial obligations. Accordingly, we urge you to issue guidance to financial institutions encouraging them to work with consumers and businesses affected by the virus and to recognize that they may have difficulty accessing affordable credit and face temporary hardship in making payments on their credit obligations.  This guidance should encourage financial institutions to make efforts to modify terms on existing loans or extend new consumer-friendly access to credit to help consumers and businesses affected by the virus, consistent with safe-and-sound lending practices.  The guidance should also encourage financial institutions to take steps to prevent adverse information from being reported to the credit bureaus and utilized in any manner that harms consumers affected by the virus. We look forward to hearing swiftly from you about what steps you will take to provide regulatory clarity for financial institutions seeking to assist customers during this challenging time,” wrote Sen. Warner along with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Committee, and Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Doug Jones (D-AL).

A copy of the letter to financial regulators is available here.

In a separate letter, Sen. Warner and his colleagues urged trade associations representing the nation’s bankers and credit unions to work with their members to prioritize their employees’ health and safety in the event of coronavirus outbreak, and to offer flexibility and forbearance to customers whose finances may be negatively impacted as a result of following recommended Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance to limit exposure and spread of the virus.

“We encourage your member institutions to commit to ensure that any employees or contractors who follow novel coronavirus-related guidance from public health authorities can count on basic protections like preservation of their employment status and basic financial forbearance,” wrote Sens. Warner, Menendez, Warren, Schatz, Van Hollen, Cortez Masto, Jones and Jack Reed (D-RI).

Added the Senators in the letter, copies of which were sent to the Consumer Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, Financial Services Forum, Credit Union National Association, National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, and Independent Community Bankers of America, “Further, we urge you to work with your customers to ensure they are not financially penalized as they seek to comply with CDC guidance and protect the safety and wellbeing of their families.  Many of your customers may face shocks to household finances, including challenges with paying their day-to-day bills, credit cards, small business loans and mortgage payments, among other financial obligations.  Accordingly, we urge you to consider waiving overdraft and monthly service fees for affected customers, suspending or modifying student loan, mortgage and business loan payments as necessary, providing affordable, short-term credit, and encouraging customers to contact your institution’s special care line so that you may work with them individually to help them avoid the negative consequences of this unique health emergency.”

A copy of the letter to bankers is available here.

In a separate letter, Sen. Warner and Sen. Brown urged the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide servicers with guidance in order to help facilitate access to affordable mortgage credit to affected borrowers, consistent with safety and soundness of the housing finance system. 

“As Americans seek to comply with CDC guidance and protect the well-being of their families, many borrowers may face negative shocks to household finances, including challenges with mortgage payments, among other financial obligations.  Accordingly, we urge you to issue guidance to mortgage servicers in order to help borrowers navigate the broader financial effects of the coronavirus.  This includes authorizing servicers to suspend or reduce a homeowner’s mortgage payments immediately if the servicer believes the homeowner’s financial circumstances are affected by the virus, waiving late fees, and suspending credit bureau reporting, foreclosures and other legal proceedings as necessary, in order to help families cope with the effects of this health emergency,” wrote Sens. Warner and Brown.

A copy of the housing finance letter is available here.

Lastly, Sen. Warner also fired off a letter to the nation’s credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, urging them to ensure that consumer credit scores aren’t negatively impacted because of financial shocks related to coronavirus.  

A copy of the letter to the credit reporting bureaus is available here.

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