(Adds comments on banking crisis)
NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell said it was probably good policy that the largest banks
are not doing big acquisitions, but said that JPMorgan Chase &
Co's acquisition of First Republic Bank was an
exception.
Regulators have to follow the law of going with the
least-cost bid, Powell said.
Regulators seized First Republic and sold its assets to
JPMorgan on Monday, in a deal to resolve the largest U.S. bank
failure since the 2008 financial crisis and draw a line under a
lingering banking turmoil.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by a
quarter of a percentage point and signaled it may pause further
increases.
Powell said that the resolution of First Republic was "an
important step to drawing a line" under a period of severe
stress in the banking system.
He added that he was very focused on what happens with
credit availability and would broadly monitor what is going on
in the banking sector.
Powell added that the speed of the run on SVB needed to
be reflected in supervision and regulation.
Startup-focused lender SVB Financial Group, which did
business as Silicon Valley Bank was
closed by regulators on March 10 in a sudden collapse
.
(Reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
