All posts tagged: Wells Fargo & Co

IRS chief Frank Bisignano dismisses JPMorgan spying allegations

IRS chief Frank Bisignano dismisses JPMorgan spying allegations

Published by Sam Flores

Internal Revenue Service CEO Frank Bisignano denied allegations that he spied on his fellow executives while working at JPMorgan Chase more than a decade age. “None of it’s true,” Bisignano told CNBC on Tuesday. Bisignano surveilled colleagues at JPMorgan while he was co-chief operating officer, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. He wanted information to “keep a tight rein on employees” and “to undermine his rivals,” the Journal reported. One of the subjects of the surveillance was Charlie Scharf, who is now CEO of Wells Fargo, according to the Journal. “Charlie called me last night. We had a good laugh about it,” Bisignano said. Read more CNBC politics coverage Wells Fargo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Bisignano’s remarks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised Bisignano in a statement to CNBC sent after Bisignano spoke on air. “With decades of experience leading some of America’s most successful companies, Frank Bisignano has brought proven executive leadership, operational excellence, and a results-driven mindset to the IRS,” Bessent said. “He has done a terrific job delivering …

Pirro’s probe into the Fed’s Powell will be difficult to appeal

Pirro’s probe into the Fed’s Powell will be difficult to appeal

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Ferris Pirro speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C., U.S., Aug. 12, 2025. Annabelle Gordon | Reuters Federal prosecutors in Washington are facing a decision that will help determine whether Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is swiftly replaced or lingers on while politicians fight over his replacement. If they do move ahead with a planned appeal against a recent adverse ruling, as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro insists they will, they risk having the investigation bogged down in complex, unsettled law, former federal prosecutors with experience in appellate law say.  “Regardless of the procedural vehicle they choose, the substantive road ahead of them is brutally steep,” said Sean P. Murphy, a former assistant U.S. attorney who has argued before the judge who ruled against Pirro’s probe of Powell and has briefed the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.  The Trump administration’s plans to quickly confirm former Fed official Kevin Warsh as Powell’s replacement are looking increasingly likely to …

Warsh Fed nomination hearing set for mid-April

Warsh Fed nomination hearing set for mid-April

Published by Sam Flores

Kevin Warsh, former governor of the US Federal Reserve, during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring meetings at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, April 25, 2025. Tierney L. Cross | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Senate Banking Committee will hold a nomination hearing on April 16 for Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. Warsh’s nomination is moving ahead even as a separate criminal probe into the Fed continues, setting up a potential clash between the two parallel processes set in motion by the Trump administration. Banking Committee member Sen. Thom Tillis, R.-N.C. has said he won’t vote to confirm Warsh until the probe is resolved. Yet President Donald Trump is eager to get Warsh confirmed. Tillis’s opposition means Trump can’t do both. But by moving ahead with the hearing, he is trying to anyway. The committee hasn’t yet put the hearing on its public schedule. Warsh and a spokesman for the Senate Banking Committee declined to …

Sen. Warren says Fed nominee Kevin Warsh would be Trump rubber stamp

Sen. Warren says Fed nominee Kevin Warsh would be Trump rubber stamp

Published by Sam Flores

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a blistering letter to Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh on Thursday, predicting he would serve as a “rubber stamp for President Trump’s Wall Street First Agenda,” and accusing him of having learned “nothing from your failures” during a prior stint at the central bank. Warren, D-Mass, in the letter reported first by CNBC, told Warsh that his record as a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors from 2006 until 2011 — which included the 2008-09 financial crisis and Great Recession — “should disqualify you from a promotion.” “But President Donald Trump has vowed that ‘anybody that disagrees with’ him ‘will never be the Fed Chairman,’ ” Warren noted. “And you, apparently, have passed his test,” she added. “As Fed Chair, you will be responsible for directing economy-altering policies that have seriousconsequences …

Federal Reserve says keep Jerome Powell subpoenas quashed

Federal Reserve says keep Jerome Powell subpoenas quashed

Published by Sam Flores

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell participates in a board meeting at the Federal Reserve on March 19, 2026 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images The Federal Reserve Board of Governors urged a judge to reject prosecutors’ request that he reconsider his recent decision to block subpoenas issued in a criminal investigation of Chair Jerome Powell over pricey renovations of the Fed’s headquarters and his congressional testimony about that. The Fed’s lawyers, in a court filing unsealed Thursday, told Judge James Boasberg that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia failed to come even remotely close to meeting the legal threshold for its motion for reconsideration. “The Motion for Reconsideration … does not even mention — let alone meet — the demanding legal standard that applies to the extraordinary relief it seeks,” the Fed’s lawyers wrote in the motion in U.S. District Court in Washington. The attorneys said “reconsideration is warranted only” when there has been a change in the law related to the issues in the case, when there is new …

Trump signals DOJ should pursue Powell probe, complicating Warsh Fed nomination

Trump signals DOJ should pursue Powell probe, complicating Warsh Fed nomination

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump on Thursday signaled his continued support for a Department of Justice investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — a stance that could further delay the confirmation of Powell’s would-be successor, Kevin Warsh. “He’s under investigation because he’s building a building for hundreds of billions of dollars more than it’s supposed to cost,” Trump said of Powell in the Oval Office. He was referring to the ongoing renovation of the Fed’s headquarters and another building in Washington, the purported focus of the federal criminal probe of the central bank chairman led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Trump repeatedly claimed that the construction projects cost up to $4 billion, though the actual total is roughly $2.5 billion. Powell has accused the government of launching the investigation in retaliation for his refusal to lower interest rates as much or as quickly as Trump has demanded. Powell “should be lowering rates immediately,” Trump said unprompted in his Oval Office remarks, “but he won’t do that because he’s a stubborn, incompetent person, and that’s a bad …

Powell says he will stay on as head of the Fed until Warsh is confirmed

Powell says he will stay on as head of the Fed until Warsh is confirmed

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 18, 2026. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says he will keep serving as head of the central bank if his nominated successor, Kevin Warsh, is not confirmed by the time his term is up in May, as dictated by the law. Separately, Powell said he will not leave his Board of Governors position, which technically extends until early 2028, until the Department of Justice investigation of him is “well and truly over with transparency and finality.” Powell said during his Wednesday press conference that he would serve as “chair pro tem” if Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick to take over the role, has not been greenlighted by the Senate. That follows precent done in several past scenarios, Powell said. The Fed chief’s position on the Board of Governors is separate from his chairmanship. Powell said he wouldn’t exit the board until …

Fed subpoenas blocked by judge; DOJ to appeal

Fed subpoenas blocked by judge; DOJ to appeal

Published by Sam Flores

A federal judge in a scathing ruling blocked subpoenas issued by a grand jury to the Federal Reserve as part of a criminal investigation of Chair Jerome Powell. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro immediately said that the Department of Justice would appeal what she called the “outrageous” ruling, after it was unsealed Friday. Friday’s action will likely keep Powell in the chairman’s seat longer because Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has vowed to block Kevin Warsh’s confirmation to succeed Powell until the federal investigation ends. That may mean interest rates remain higher than President Donald Trump wants for longer because Powell has refused to bend to the president’s demands to lower them further. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, in his ruling, said evidence showed Pirro was motivated to investigate Powell because of a desire to get the Fed chief to bow to Trump and cut interest rates quickly and broadly. Pirro’s investigation purportedly is focused on the Fed’s multibillion-dollar renovation of its headquarters in Washington and on Powell’s testimony to the Senate …

Fed chair pick Kevin Warsh meets with more senators

Fed chair pick Kevin Warsh meets with more senators

Published by Sam Flores

Federal Reserve chairman nominee Kevin Warsh’s chances of getting quickly confirmed by the Senate looked as gloomy as the weather in Washington on Thursday as he met with more senators in a bid to bolster his chances. “It doesn’t look like such a nice day today,” Warsh quipped to a CNBC reporter in the Hart Senate Office Building, as heavy rain poured outside, on his way to a chat with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. “Things are progressing well, good to see you,” Warsh said when asked how the meetings were going. Rounds, after the meeting, posted on X that Warsh “will help keep the central bank accountable and focused on its statutory mission.” Warsh’s nomination by President Donald Trump is bogged down because of an effective blockade imposed by Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who sits on the Banking Committee. That panel is the first hurdle for would-be Fed board members such as Warsh. Read more CNBC politics coverage Tillis has vowed to vote against passing along Warsh’s nomination or any other Fed …

Tim Scott hopes Fed Chair Powell investigation ‘goes away’ for Warsh

Tim Scott hopes Fed Chair Powell investigation ‘goes away’ for Warsh

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Tim Scott on Wednesday said he hopes the federal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell “goes away” so the Senate can take up the nomination of Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the head of the U.S. central bank. “That proceeding going away allows for us to get the Fed fully functioning, back on target,” Scott, who chairs the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Read more CNBC politics coverage Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has vowed to hold up any Fed nominees until a federal criminal investigation into Powell is resolved. Trump floated the idea of firing Powell last year and lashed out at the Fed chair for refusing to cut interest rates to the extent he desired. Powell has denied any wrongdoing and has said he is being targeted for refusing to accede to Trump’s demands. Powell was expected to testify before Congress on Feb. 11, but missed that date because of the federal probe, Scott said. “I had a conversation with …