President

joe

Biden said he was confident that US regional banks were in good shape and did not foresee major crises on the horizon, downplaying Wall Street fears and lingering fears of wider financial turmoil.

I think we did a damn good job. People’s savings are safe, Biden said at a news conference

on

Friday in Ottawa next to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I think it will take a while for things to just calm down, but I don’t see anything on the horizon that’s about to explode.

In response to a reporter’s question about fear in the financial markets, Biden joked: Do you ever know a Wall Street that isn’t in consternation?

The comments were Biden’s first on the banking crisis since a week earlier as he tries to pivot away from the issue in an effort to project stability and avoid frightening markets.

Biden said if the banking turmoil continues, the government will be able to protect deposits.

Everything you need to know about the spectacular collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

what we would do

[do]

is, if we find out it’s more instability than it looks, we’d be in a position with the FDIC

[ to]

use the power it has to guarantee those loans over $250,000 as they already did, he said, citing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

US regulators are under pressure to provide more clarity on guaranteeing uninsured deposits.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D.-Mass.) has called on regulators to increase guarantees on bills above the current $250,000 threshold. Treasury Secretary Janet

L

Yellen has said regulators are not looking for a blanket deposit guarantee without working with lawmakers.

Biden expressed confidence last week

that the

the worst of the turmoil in the US banking system was over. And he has taken the issue publicly to Congress, encouraging lawmakers to pass tougher banking regulations and penalties for bank executives who fail, including strengthening powers to recover bonuses.

But regulators are still working to stabilize the industry following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and with concerns about the health of another regional lender, First Republic Bank,

despite although it

already

received received

a $30 billion lifeline.

Biden says the banking system is safe and promises accountability for the failure of Silicon Valley Bank

Yellen called a previously unscheduled meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council on Friday, which brought together the major US financial regulators.

The banking crisis was exacerbated by problems at Credit Suisse Group

Inc

leading the Swiss government to a deal for its takeover by long-time rival UBS Group

Inc

.

The markets were gripped by new volatility

on

Friday with the focus on Deutsche Bank, which saw its shares fall the most in three years.

Wingrove and Fabian write for Bloomberg.