Treasury Department Convenes Financial Stability Council to Address AI Risks, Private Credit Growth, and Banking Sector Resilience

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott K. H. Bessent convened a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council on March 25, 2026, in Washington. The U.S. Department of the Treasury press release details how the council held executive and open sessions to review key financial developments. In the executive session, members received briefings on the quarterly financial stability monitor, covering banking sector updates, financial markets, household finances, and financial innovation. Discussions highlighted geopolitical risks, artificial intelligence investments, and private credit sector growth. Council members emphasized the financial systems resilience and their monitoring efforts. Treasury staff also presented tools to track household financial resilience, including consumer credit conditions and fraud impacts on economic security.

In the open session, the council unanimously voted to publish proposed interpretive guidance on nonbank financial company designations in the Federal Register for 45 days of public comment. This guidance revives elements from the 2019 version with enhancements focused on economic growth and security, prioritizing activities-based risk assessments over targeting individual firms. Secretary Bessent stated in the Treasury readout that this approach identifies threats before they harm the economy. Updates from the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation covered banking supervision reforms and simplified regulatory capital standards.

Ahead of the meeting, Senator Jack Reed pressed Secretary Bessent in a letter to review emerging cracks in credit markets, particularly private credit risks from nonbank lenders like private equity firms. Reed urged assessing hidden leverage and interconnections for systemic threats, noting gaps in forward-looking oversight by the council and Office of Financial Research.

Separately, Treasury plans conferences on optimizing artificial intelligence regulations for banks and financial institutions. Secretary Bessent acknowledged AI risks to consumers and markets but stressed its role in economic security and productivity, shifting from constraints to growth support.

Biofuel and agriculture groups wrote to Secretary Bessent on March 25, urging 45Z clean fuel production tax credit regulations to benefit farmers.

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