Senator Katie Britt Leads GOP Push to Reform Federal Bank Supervisory Process

August 6, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, is spearheading a Republican-led effort to reform a key component of federal bank supervision. Britt and ten of her Republican colleagues on the committee have sent a formal letter to the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), urging a comprehensive review of the "Matters Requiring Attention" (MRA) process.

MRAs are supervisory findings issued by bank examiners that identify deficiencies requiring prompt remediation. While intended to safeguard financial stability, Britt and her colleagues argue that the current MRA framework lacks transparency, consistency, and legal grounding.

"If used effectively, these are valuable supervisory tools," the senators wrote. "However, we are concerned that the lack of structure, uniformity, and legal basis has allowed the MRA process to become increasingly opaque, ineffective, and inconsistent."

Calls for Accountability After SVB Collapse

The letter draws attention to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023, which cost the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund approximately $20 billion. According to the senators, SVB had 31 unresolved MRAs and MRIAs-some dating back multiple examination cycles. Several of these findings flagged serious safety and soundness risks, yet neither the bank nor regulators acted decisively.

Conversely, many MRAs focused on issues that posed no material threat, potentially diverting attention from more critical vulnerabilities. The senators argue this imbalance underscores the need for reform.

"MRAs are not explicitly mentioned in any law or regulation," the letter states. "They were created through informal guidance, without public notice or comment," leading to fragmented interpretations and inconsistent enforcement.

Britt's Broader Regulatory Critique

Senator Britt has been vocal about what she sees as politicization within federal financial regulatory agencies. In a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing, she criticized regulators for prioritizing social and political agendas over sound financial oversight.

"When you're prioritizing a social agenda or a political one, instead of actually ensuring that people have an opportunity and access to the American Dream, we've got to call that for what it is," Britt said.

She also condemned regulators' post-SVB calls for expanded authority, arguing that they failed to use existing tools effectively.

"That is absolutely not how this should work, and it's completely and totally unacceptable," Britt declared during a March 2025 hearing.

Next Steps

The senators are calling on the Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC to jointly assess and improve the MRA framework as part of broader efforts to restore integrity and accountability to federal bank supervision. Their goal: ensure MRAs serve as meaningful tools for risk mitigation-not just bureaucratic checkboxes.