WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. Treasury will step more firmly into bank regulation to ensure better balance and less burdensome oversight, especially for smaller lenders, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Speaking at an American Bankers Association conference this week, Bessent said the department would strengthen its role in shaping financial rules through the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which includes regulators such as the Federal Reserve.

Bessent said greater involvement was needed to ensure regulations do not hinder banks' ability to support economic growth, adding that current oversight has too often lacked transparency and accountability.

"In the past, bank regulators have exercised vast powers on almost every aspect of daily life – but without meaningful accountability to the American people," Bessent said. "Most glaringly, regulation through supervision has too often taken place behind a veil of secrecy that precludes scrutiny by the public and their elected officials."

He also pointed to the President's Working Group on Capital Markets and direct engagement with regulators like the FDIC and OCC as tools Treasury would use more actively.

While offering no specific changes to current rules, Bessent said the Trump administration would examine whether capital buffer requirements for large banks are in line with their intended purpose. His broader framework called for regulation to be clearly grounded in legal mandates and applied fairly.

"Second, regulation should be efficient. That means regulations should strike an appropriate balance between costs and benefits," he added.

Bessent highlighted the need to ease the compliance burden on community banks, which often struggle with rules designed for larger institutions.

"The Treasury Department intends to drive a change in the culture of supervision through improvements to examination procedures, enhanced monitoring of examiners' compliance with those procedures, and more realistic processes for appealing supervisory findings," he said.

He also said Treasury would consider defining "unsafe and unsound" practices using objective, risk-based measures.

"For the last four decades, Wall Street has grown wealthier than ever before. And it can continue to grow and do well," Bessent said. "But for the next four years, it's Main Street's turn" to drive investment.

He criticized the Basel Committee's Endgame standards, saying the U.S. needed its own tailored approach: "We should not outsource decision making for the United States to international bodies."