US banks are 'well-capitalized' and ready to help: Bank of America, Citi CEOs on coronavirus response
Moynihan and Corbat stressed the banks are 'well-capitalized' and the the coronavirus is 'not a financial crisis'
As the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell hard into a bear market, dropping 1,464 points amid coronavirus fears, President Trump was getting assurance from the nation's top banking CEOs that their financial institutions are solid.
Bank of America and Citigroup CEOs Brian Moynihan and Michael Corbat told Trump that the big banks are "very strong", "well-capitalized" and ready to help provide relief for any customer that is put out of work as a result of the virus.
"We are in a great position in terms of liquidity, capital, and strength but, most importantly, we're doing what we do best which is helping our teammates importantly but also our clients and our small business customers and medium-sized business customers continue to have access to credit", Moynihan said.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
He added that economic activity has been strong.
"We're still seeing people spend money, we're still seeing people go out, small business loans are continuing to grow, auto loans are growing, mortgage loans are obviously very strong", he said referring to record low mortgage rates.
RECORD LOW MORTGAGE RATES CAN TURN 30-YEAR LOAN INTO A 20-YEAR
Corbat stressed that the coronavirus is "not a financial crisis" during the meeting.
"The banks and the financial system are in sound shape and we are here to help," he said. "We want to provide liquidity, we want to lend to our small businesses, and we want to be supporting our consumer clients."
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He also believes the market is going through a phase of "price discovery" in order to assess the immediate and long-term health of the U.S. economy.
"I think the market is going through a discovery phase and really trying to figure out what earnings are going to look like and where valuations should be," he said.
Corbat said that the good news is that the markets have performed in an "orderly way" and that the infrastructure that supports the markets has held up well despite fears of a recession.
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