What to Know About Trump-Era Bank Deregulation and Bank Failures

With the recent failure of two midsize banks, some Democrats have blamed deregulation championed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. While the law did reduce oversight of small and midsize banks, experts are divided over whether deregulation in 2018 ultimately caused Signature and Silicon Valley Bank to collapse.

Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest bank in the U.S. by assets, specialized in meeting the credit needs of technology startup companies and venture capital firms. Experts say it got into trouble because of large unrealized losses on government securities, which became a problem when the...