Warren Buffett voiced worry about the recent management of the banking sector's chaos at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday. He also cautioned that a standoff over the debt limit might result in unrest in the financial system.
In response to the recent bankruptcies of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, the 92-year-old billionaire slammed the press, regulators, and politicians for their "very poor" message that unduly alarmed depositors, according to Reuters.
Buffet underlined the need to make bank CEOs and directors responsible for their behavior and made the argument that the present financial incentives in bank regulation were insufficient.
Except for Bank of America, which he admired, Warren Buffett continued to be wary about owning bank stocks and had decreased his exposure to the industry.
He referred to First Republic's offer of fixed-rate, non-government-guaranteed mortgages for enormous sums as a "crazy proposition" that remained ignored until it was doomed, The Guardian reported.
Warren Buffett said at the annual shareholders meeting that his business has a sizeable cash reserve and is ready to act if required. He added that even though he does not believe that would occur, he wants to be there for the financial system if it ever becomes briefly unresponsive.
But Buffet cautions that the main problem is that the general public is clueless about the security of their bank savings, especially those that are not covered by insurance, per CNBC.
The Berkshire Hathaway chair asserts that even if they had not made that guarantee clear, regulators and Congress would not let depositors lose even a single dollar in a US bank.
Buffet: Democracy Must Be 'Refined' as US Moves Forward
Warren Buffett voiced worry about a rise in "tribalism" in Washington, where partisanship leads to individuals talking over one another. Nevertheless, he still believes that the United States is in a better situation than it has ever been, but he underscored that democracy must be "refined."
A few hours later, Berkshire declared a $35.5 billion quarterly profit and that $4.4 billion in its own shares would be repurchased, signaling that the stock was undervalued.
At the time he made these remarks, the shares were trading at a discount. On the other hand, it sold shares in other firms for $13.3 billion in a quarter when the S&P 500 Index increased by 7 percent.
Warren Buffett, the sixth most wealthy person in the world, has been in charge of Berkshire since 1965. Berkshire is home to dozens of companies, including the BNSF railroad, Geico auto insurance, and consumer brands like Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom.
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