April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is hosting private meetings with federal and other bank agencies as a part of his expanded effort to streamline oversight and coordinate plans to ease regulation, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
The Treasury Department will take the lead on creating recommendations on the policy agenda, the report added, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) declined to comment on the report, while the U.S. Treasury did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Bessent said last week his department will play a greater role in banking regulation to better balance costs and benefits and ensure that lenders can finance growth in the U.S. economy.
He called for "commonsense principles" in banking regulations to ease burdens, especially for community banks that have had to deal with rules tailored for larger institutions.
Bessent said the rules would be achieved through the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which meets regularly and includes the heads of the Federal Reserve and other bank regulators.
He also plans to use the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, a smaller council that has occasionally convened during financial crises and monitors financial trends.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Wednesday announced a restructuring of its organizational framework aimed at streamlining operations and reducing bureaucratic layers.
The change will combine midsize and community bank supervision and large bank supervision functions, it said.
Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru
