The Urgency of Making Bank Supervision Focused, Efficient, and Supportive of Stability and Growth

By Kevin Fromer, President and CEO 
2/20/2025

Bank supervision is a longstanding practice intended to ensure we have a safe and sound banking system.  Experienced bank supervisors can provide informed and focused feedback to banks, supporting banks’ efforts to operate successfully in a dynamic economy.  The benefit of appropriate supervision is clear: a safely-run bank delivers for its customers and communities.  What if, however, supervision becomes broken, unfocused, and excessive?  Like incorrect or excessive medication, there is an increased risk of adverse side effects.  In recent years, the signs of those effects have become increasingly clear and pervasive.  Bank supervision has strayed from its core objectives, and banks of all sizes are experiencing those side effects.  The results are not good, and they ironically may be reducing safety and soundness.  Given the critical importance of the banking system to our nation’s shared prosperity and growth, we need to get back to a rigorous but sensible approach to bank supervision and we must not wait.

Four broad changes must be vigorously pursued to bring supervision back to its core mission: focus on material risks, respect the boundary between supervision and regulation, provide for effective challenge, and improve efficiency in supervision.