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This is what we have here with CEO Brett Jefferson of Hildene Capital, a diversified institutional asset manager specializing in Asset-Based and Credit opportunities. (Full disclosure from the writer: I have known him for years.) In the summer of 2022, Jefferson contacted The Federal Reserve, FDIC and the California Department of Protection and Innovation (DFPI) for help related to his concerns with Monterey County Bank, where his company has investments. He received a polite response and no action or follow-up. As it is a bank with a history of issues known to those officials, the bank’s most recent consent order was issued in November 2021, Jefferson is concerned.

“I think they [FDIC] needs to do something,” Jefferson says. “At least have a conversation with us to understand where we are coming from.”

“When it comes down to it their concern is the bank and the health of the bank. My concern is the investment I have but I’m also a taxpayer so if we lose money that’s a bad thing. I just want people to do their job because…I’m asking you government official a question and you government official is not answering. And that kind of bothers me.” 

That should kind of bother all of us. Not being answered by government officials happens in countries we call regimes, ruled by dictator types. So how come the result is the same here in the USA? Including for someone deep in the finance world.

Even though Jefferson is managing monies and investments in numbers most people only see on a calculator, and because those running the institutions named above likely will never have a problem paying for groceries or gas, and because even if a bank does fail those with monies in the bank are protected up to FDIC limits, it doesn’t mean the concerns and questions he’s raising should be ignored by officials.

When did we start accepting that our important agencies are run by secrecy and avoidance? Because that’s not in the P.R. pamphlet about the U.S.A. yet that’s’ exactly what’s happening and what most expect to happen. “That’s the way it goes.” When did apathy and accepting no accountability or response from our officials become who we are?

The short answer to why no one will talk about the bank is: it’s policy. Is that something we are all ok with our officials doing?

“Finally, I want to affirm my continued support for the objectives assigned to us by the Congress--maximum employment and price stability--and for transparency about the Federal Reserve’s policies and programs. Transparency is the foundation for our accountability, and I am committed to clearly explaining what we are doing and why we are doing it.”