On Thursday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) urged banks to avoid constantly weighing in on political disputes that are outside their core business because “having a handful of senior executives somewhere make these decisions for the rest of Americans is certainly undemocratic” and the banks will “end up being treated like a public utility if they go too far down this road.” Toomey added that while he doesn’t personally support treating banks like utilities, they will likely get backlash from a future Congress if they take it too far.
Toomey said, “So, look, my advice is, stay in your lane. I mean, we have democratic processes for addressing and trying to resolve as best we can. And, yeah, it can be sloppy and it’s not usually elegant, but that’s how we resolve these issues. The idea of having a handful of senior executives somewhere make these decisions for the rest of Americans is certainly undemocratic, and probably, in the long run, not great for business, because, at some point, they’ll end up being treated like a public utility if they go too far down this road.”
He later added, “They are private entities. They have their own governance. They can decide what to do. I’m simply suggesting that they ought to be really careful here. When they become advocates for policy that is not central to their business and that is a very divisive issue, they ought to be careful. There will be a backlash. Some of it will come from their customers. Some will come from future Congresses, probably, if this goes too far. That’s my point.”
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