Here’s What Jerome Powell Has To Say About Large Banks As Fed Plans To Ease Leverage Rules

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday said it is essential for the central bank to make sure that large lenders in the U.S. are well capitalized and their risks are managed well.

Powell delivered opening remarks at the Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference in Washington, D.C.

“We need large banks to be free to compete with one another, with nonbank financial firms, and with banks in other jurisdictions to provide capital and support economic growth,” Powell said.

“The Fed is a dynamic institution. We are open to hearing new ideas and feedback on how to improve the capital framework for large banks,” he added.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities appear poised for a weak opening on Tuesday as investors weigh the impact of the Trump administration reigniting tariff concerns by saying more letters could be sent out before the August 1 deadline.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which mirrors the S&P 500 index, was up 0.01% at the time of writing during the pre-market session, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which mirrors the Nasdaq, declined 0.05%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ territory.

This comes at a time when the Federal Reserve has kicked off a process to ease the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio (SLR) for large banks.

To add to Powell’s woes, the Trump administration has ramped up its rhetoric against the Fed Chair – while President Trump has oscillated between calling for Powell’s resignation and saying he’s not considering it, other key officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have gone after him publicly.

President Trump, himself, has repeatedly called out Powell for not cutting interest rates – a key bone of contention between the two. He said the Fed Chair’s decision to keep interest rates high is costing the U.S. more than $1 trillion a year.

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