It may seem like a hoax, or a story from popular satire news sites like The Onion, but this seems to be a true story. According to multiple sources, the U.S. Department of Treasury is looking to purchase “survival kits” for bankers and bank employees in almost every major bank throughout the United States. It looks like these purchases will be made this year and sent out to banks shortly thereafter.
According to this article in the New York Post, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is a part of the United States Treasury Department, recently made public a request for survival kits for all 3,814 of its employees. Most of these employees are bank examiners who regularly work conducting on-site reviews of banks across the country.
According to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s website, these examiners “analyze loan and investment portfolios, funds management, capital, earnings, liquidity, sensitivity to market risk for all national banks and federal thrifts.”
The report states that these survival kits will include 33-piece first-aid kits with decongestant tablets, reusable solar blankets, food bars, water purification tablets, dust masks, ponchos with hoods, rechargeable lanterns with built-in radios and an emergency mask for protection against airborne viruses.
A spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told reporters “The survival kits solicitation is an expansion of a program that began soon after the terror attacks on 9-11-01.” But many are questioning whether the government knows something that they’re not telling us, or, on the other side of the coin, whether this is an instance of the federal government needing to use budgeted dollars before the end of the year.
This report from Woundedamericanwarrior.com states the government is planning on spending up to $200,000 on the survival kits, which includes an upper limit of $3,000 per individual kit. These kits will be delivered to a list of banks that includes Bank of America, American Express Bank, BMO Financial Corp., Capitol One Financial Corporation, Citigroup, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Company, and Wells Fargo.
A press release from the Office of the Comptroller states that their mission is to “ensure that national banks and federal savings associations operate in a safe and sound manner, provide fair access to financial services, treat customers fairly, and comply with applicable laws and regulations.” It’s not immediately clear how solar blankets, water purification tablets, and masks to protect from airborne viruses will help banks with any of these missions.
By Brett Gillin
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