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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested depositors at small banks might be eligible for the same kind of emergency government aid extended to customers at two regional banks that failed this month, while emphasizing that lenders of all sizes are critical to the U.S. economy.
The comments, made at a banking conference Tuesday, were intended to stress the U.S. commitment to protect the U.S. banking system – and the customers who trust their money in it.
They come nine days after the government announced extraordinary measures to guarantee all deposits at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which collapsed when panicked depositors moved to withdraw their money.
„Similar actions could be warranted if smaller institutions suffer deposit runs that pose the risk of contagion,“ Yellen said in a speech to the American Bankers Association.
„The steps we took were not focused on aiding specific banks or classes of banks,“ she added. „Our intervention was necessary to protect the broader U.S. banking system.“Yellen defends U.
