Bill reintroduction follows the third anniversary of Silicon Valley Bank's failure

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), and eight additional Senators are reintroducing The Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act of 2026, whichwould help ensure that big bank executives are not allowed to collect massive paychecks and bonuses, disregard prudent risk management, and walk away scot-free if the bank goes under.

The bill would require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to hold executives of large, failed banks - like Silicon Valley Bank, which failed three years ago today - financially responsible for some of the costs those failures impose on the rest of the banking system and the economy. The FDIC would have to claw back all or part of the compensation large bank executives received over the three-year period preceding a bank's failure.

"Executives at major financial institutions should not get to make out like bandits after running their banks into the ground," said Senator Cortez Masto. "We saw this happen with Silicon Valley Bank three years ago - when the bank failed, its leadership had already sold millions in company stock. Our bipartisan legislation will ensure these individuals are held accountable for threatening the financial stability of businesses and families in Nevada and nationwide."

"When big banks fail, weak regulators too often let the failed bank's wealthy executives slip away into the night while American taxpayers foot the bill," said Ranking Member Warren. "This bill helps ensure that failed bank executives are held accountable for their risk-taking - and that they forfeit the huge bonuses they got while driving their bank into the ground."

"Bank executives who make risky investments with customers' money shouldn't be permitted to profit in the good times, and then avoid financial consequences when things go south," said Senator Hawley. "This legislation puts the executives' own profits on the line, and that's exactly as it should be."

"When Silicon Valley Bank went under, hundreds of Arizonans lost their jobs, and thousands more lost their investments and savings. Meanwhile, the same irresponsible c-suite executives who ran the bank to the ground cashed in tens of millions of dollars in bonuses and stock then left the taxpayers holding the bag. That's not how our system should work," said Senator Gallego. "This bill would hold bank executives financially accountable and make sure they aren't able to walk away rich while hardworking Americans lose their savings and jobs."

Read the full bill here. Additional cosponsors include Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).

Cortez Masto has continually pushed to end public corruption, including supporting legislation that would prevent lawmakers from trading stocks and legislation to crack down on cryptocurrency-related corruption by elected officials at the highest levels of the federal government. Cortez Masto has long championed actions to crack down on dark money in politics. She has cosponsored legislation to require organizations spending money in federal elections to disclose their donors and help guard against hidden foreign influence in our democracy.

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