Warren Presses Banks on Coronavirus Preparation

Last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent letters to the CEOs of five U.S.-based banks with foreign exposures, pressing them for their plans on how they are monitoring the economic risks of the coronavirus outbreak and planning to mitigate those risks. Letters were sent to Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley.

In China, where the outbreak originated, the virus known as COVID-19 has forced businesses to either close or be in lockdown. In the United States, it has had a major impact on the stock market, causing major plummets and fluctuations.

“As a globally systemic important bank, your institution and the customers it serves could be impacted either directly through exposures to areas where the virus has spread or indirectly through a change in market conditions caused by disruptions in supply chains, a drop in tourism or travel, or numerous other factors that could cause a slowdown in economic growth,” Warren wrote in the letters.

“I ask that you provide information regarding how you evaluate the risks to your institution and its customers associated with the coronavirus, the extent to which your institution is exposed to those risks and prepared to absorb their impact, and how you are monitoring the developments going forward,” she added.

The letters, which can be viewed here, request a response by March 13.