Yellen appeals to Wall Street for help with debt ceiling

The calls are the latest sign of mounting pressure on the govt to avert a potential crisis

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (pictured) called the leaders of Wall Street’s largest financial firms in recent days to enlist their help in her campaign to pressure Republicans to support raising or suspending the debt ceiling, according to people familiar with the matter.

Yellen reached out to chief executive officers including Jpmorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, Wells Fargo’s Charlie Scharf, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan and a senior official at Goldman Sachs Group, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information.

The calls are the latest sign of mounting pressure on the US government to avert a potential crisis if it’s no longer able to borrow money to pay its bills. The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a Bill that would suspend the debt ceiling for more than a year, but the measure is almost certain to fail in the Senate.