Reports: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Wants Financial Regulators Focused on Risks

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly said Thursday (March 6) that his department will work to see that financial regulators focus on material financial risks.

Speaking at The Economic Club of New York, Bessent also addressed media reports that the Trump administration is considering consolidating the federal banking agencies, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday.

“We need our financial regulators singing in unison from the same song sheet,” Bessent said, per the report. “To be clear, this does not mean consolidation of agencies, but coordination via Treasury, such that our regulators work in parallel with each other and industry.”

Reuters reported Thursday that Bessent said at The Economic Club of New York that he agreed with the banking industry that federal regulators’ bank supervision is opaque, subjective and needlessly restrictive.

Bessent said, per the report, that he plans to use the Financial Stability Oversight Council and similar multiagency bodies to coordinate regulatory activities.

He added that a recent executive order from President Donald Trump allowed the administration to oversee the rule-writing of independent agencies, according to the report.

CNBC reported Thursday that Bessent said at the event that smaller financial institutions are especially burdened by federal bank regulations that aren’t necessary for safety.

Another regulatory agency that is being reshaped is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), PYMNTS reported Wednesday (March 5).

The FDIC’s new acting chairman, Travis Hill, laid out an ambitious agenda at the start of the new administration in January.

Hill said at that time that he would “conduct a wholesale review of regulation, guidance and manuals” and “adopt a more open-minded approach to innovation and technology adoption, including (1) a more transparent approach to fintech partnerships and to digital assets and tokenization, and (2) engagement to address growing technology costs for community banks.”

It was reported Feb. 28 that several federal employees said in statements submitted for a lawsuit that the new leadership of another regulator, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), plans to wind down that agency and fire most of its employees.

Days earlier, on Feb. 25, it was reported that Justice Department attorneys said in court filings that the Trump administration plans to streamline, not dismantle, the CFPB.