The coronavirus crisis could make American banks an easy target for bandits, a federal regulator warned.
Requiring people to wear masks in public in the midst of a pandemic creates a “very real risk” from a surge in bank robberies, according to Brian P. Brooks, a financial supervisor who acts as a US currency watchdog.
Brooks issued a warning Monday at letter to the mayor and governor of the country outlining how locking aimed at curbing the virus could damage the American banking system. He said many banks loosen masks and headgear at the height of the pandemic to protect the health of their customers.
“Although it may be a wise decision when the level of health risks is still unknown, a recent report on face-related robberies in bank branches and other companies explains that the extensive face mask requirements are not safe or sustainable on a permanent basis,” Brooks writes, the first day at his post regulating the national bank is Friday.
Robbers who wore masks did rob banks and other businesses during the pandemic, based on news report. The FBI has accused a Connecticut man robbed several gas stations when wearing a surgical mask in March, before the Disease Control and Prevention Center’s recommendation in early April to wear face masks in public.
Brooks’ letter did not specify how many such incidents had taken place nationally or what financial loss the bank had caused from the robbery.
But he said restrictions aimed at controlling the virus posed a number of other risks that could “threaten the stability and functioning of an orderly financial system.”
For example, banks can suffer from higher delinquency rates on loans for small businesses whose income evaporates amid lockouts, according to Brooks. Vandals and thieves can hit properties that have been vacant for a long time, threatening collateral for commercial real estate loans, he said.
Local officials can also damage the collateral if they cut utilities for businesses that oppose locking orders, because some cities have threatened to do so, Brooks said.
“I ask your members to carefully consider the impact of their locking orders on the health and functioning of the national financial infrastructure with us when they apply the President’s guidelines to determine when and how to release the order,” Brooks wrote in his letter to the United States. Mayor Conference.
