"I am committed to cooperate with the process, with the regulators and other agencies that I know are going to be looking at this specific question," Becker told the US Senate Banking Committee.
The comment came in response to a senator asking Becker whether he was ready to pay the bank’s former employees from the $1.5 million in bonuses he received for 2022.
Many lawmakers have expressed frustration that SVB executives received such bonuses on March 10, right before the bank effectively collapsed.
However, Becker said the compensation he received was a decision by the bank’s board and the compensation committee, which is allegedly an independent body.
"These bonuses were pre-determined, on a pre-determined date, which I was not familiar with when those are going to be paid," he said.
Senators also asked Becker whether he intends to return his bonuses before SVB collapsed.
"I am going to cooperate with the regulators as they go through the process to look at this specific area," he said.
On March 10, US federal regulators closed SVB, the largest US bank to collapse since the 2008 financial crisis and the second largest implosion in the country's history. Later that week, the New York-based Signature Bank was seized in the third largest bank collapse in US history. Both lenders, which catered largely to the tech sector, became victims of a bank run.