Many are looking to cast blame in the wake of last week’s SVB bank closure. Some fault the board (now dismissed), and some point to the fact there was no “risk manager” in place for the last eight months. Some blame former President Donald Trump, and some blame President Joe Biden.
Notable restaurateur and CKE chain CEO Andy Puzder claimed, “Joe Biden’s mad spending juggernaut and woke-obsessed bankers fueled this banking tsunami.”
During a Wednesday interview with Fox News, Puzder noted his concern that “woke decisions” are being made by financial executives. The interview discussion revealed that SVB executives refused to make adjustments as red flags were apparent, and the board, comprised mainly of DNC “mega-donors with no banking experience,” made a series of “bad bets.”
Puzder, a Heritage Foundation visiting fellow, stated he believes similar problems may arise in financial institutions nationwide as many focus on “equity,” “inclusion” and “diversity” issues and move away from merit-based hiring.
During the interview, Puzder said: “What the G in ESG is supposed to be is governance. And if all you’re focused on is climate change and trying to hire people for your qualifications other than their merit, their qualifications, or their character, if you’re not focused on how your company is governed and run, if you’re just focused on being woke, you’re going to have problems.”
Puzder continued: “And these are the kinds of problems that arise. I think we’re going to see this in a lot of other businesses, a lot of other sectors if we don’t get back to our historic focus on how corporations are run and hiring people based on merit.”
The Heritage Foundation visiting fellow added: “They misjudged the impact of interest rates on their investment portfolio and their customers, they misinterpreted their companies, their customers’ needs.”
“They were woke and they had a regulator that was woke and really didn’t do its job. So it was a perfect storm for a bank failure and that’s what we ended up with.”
The interview highlighted the absence of a risk management officer at Silicon Valley Bank and how the U.K. office focused on “launching and leading LGBTQ campaigns” in the months preceding SVB’s closure.
Fox News noted that as the SVB approached collapse, Jay Ersapah, the U.K’s “risk management” officer, reportedly coordinated a month-long pride campaign, created a platform where employees could share their “coming out stories,” and co-chaired the European LGBTQ Employee Resource Group.
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