\t\t\tNovember 20, 2025<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no excuse for the Administration\u2019s failure to identify, or act on, these security risks and conflicts of interest before bringing Mr. McFerran into a sensitive U.S. government role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Text of Letter (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) sent a letter to John Jovanovic, President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), and Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff, calling for a full explanation into how and why the Trump Administration allowed Bryce McFerran to continue in his role as Chief Banking Officer at EXIM following public reporting on his concerning background. McFerran pulled his own nomination to be First Vice President of EXIM after the Ranking Member raised<\/a> concerns about his past work trading Russian commodities globally for a key Swiss subsidiary of the Russian metals and mining company Evraz from 2015 to March 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cAs \u2018the official export credit agency of the United States,\u2019 EXIM and its employees have access to \u2018sensitive information about U.S. companies and [they control] billions of dollars in financing for U.S. exports,\u2019\u201d wrote the Democratic Senators. \u201cThis information should not have been in the hands of someone like Mr. McFerran, who reportedly \u2018has financial conflicts of interests with other countries, particularly other countries where [the United States] may be imposing sanctions such as Russia.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Senators continued: \u201cMr. McFerran\u2019s employment history should have raised significant questions about his judgment and commitment to U.S. national security, particularly given that he began working at East Metals AG in 2015\u2014after Russia first invaded Ukraine. He remained at the company through Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022 and did not leave until 2024, after the company began liquidation.\u201d<\/p>\n They also criticized the Administration for failing to scrutinize McFerran\u2019s familial ties to the Kremlin: \u201cIn 2008, according to reporting by the Washington Post, he married the daughter of a former Russian senator, Elena McFerran (ne\u00e9 Shatirova). Elena\u2019s father, Sergey Shatirov, was a member of the upper chamber of Russia\u2019s Parliament and notably \u2018represent[ed] Kemerovo, the heartland of Evraz\u2019s steel and mining facilities.\u2019 Sergey is currently a senior official at a Kremlin-backed investment fund and serves as an \u2018aide to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s advisers.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Senators continued: \u201cThere is no excuse for the Administration\u2019s failure to identify, or act on, these security risks and conflicts of interest before bringing Mr. McFerran into a sensitive U.S. government role. The background and structure of the companies for which Mr. McFerran worked is public information, and every Administration has a responsibility to comprehensively investigate and vet its own political appointees.\u201d<\/p>\n The Senators concluded by requesting answers to her questions on the work done by McFerran after his conflicts of interest were brought to light, the process to remove and replace him as EXIM\u2019s Chief Banking Officer, and EXIM\u2019s vetting processes no later than December 3, 2025.<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n