Alexa Philo, AFR’s Senior Policy Analyst, Testified Before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy
Today, our Senior Policy Analyst, Alexa Philo, testified before the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy titled “Bank Mergers and the Economic Impacts of Consolidation.”
Philo expressed concerns about excessive concentration in the banking sector and the need for stronger bank merger review frameworks, criticized federal bank regulators for approving mergers without rejecting any applications in over 15 years, highlighted the harmful effects of bank mergers on consumers, small businesses, communities, and financial stability, emphasized the importance of protecting the public, promoting competition, and addressing the risks of consolidation, and shared recommendations to update guidelines, evaluate past merger impacts, consider community benefits, demand measurable benefits for consumers, and enforce fintech and tech platform activities.