The economy is OK, and so are the nation's largest banks.
That was the crux of conversations between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the heads of six of the nation's largest banks Saturday.
Mnuchin spoke individually with each of the CEOs of Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo, who confirmed the banks are on solid financial footing and have enough liquid capital for consumer and business lending, according to a release from the department.
The secretary, in turn, reassured each CEO that the U.S. economy is seeing strong growth and that the core functions of financial-related government organizations like the IRS won't be affected by the partial government shutdown.
The conversations come after a week in which all three U.S. equity indexes closed with losses, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which lost more than 1,100 points in its worst week in a decade, and the president reportedly mused privately about firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell following a quarter-point rate hike.
Mnuchin will also speak with the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and possibly other regulators in an effort to coordinate on keeping the market working normally.
