CEOs of giant US banks were grilled Wednesday on their swelling pay packages, lending to gun makers and other hot-button issues in the industry's biggest congressional once-over since the financial crisis. Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat and chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, set the tone, hitting out at the industry's "chronic lawbreaking" as evidenced by hundreds of billions of dollars in fines and settlements and also alluding to 2008 US bank bailouts.
But with the industry on firmer footing today, there was less focus on financial stability than on the industry's social footprint, with the hearing coming as leading Democratic presidential candidates jostle for attention, making aggressive proposals on taxes and regulation.
Several Democrats ripped into the 2017 tax cut signed by President Donald Trump as a boon to the rich that has done little to help families still struggling after the 2008 recession. JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon defended the measure for boosting US banks, saying "a more competitive business will drive wages in time."
Dimon and other CEOs emphasized the industry's work to support low-income communities and minority-led businesses, as well as to push for greater gender parity in the workforce.