financialservices.house.gov
Cmte Financial Services (R)
Contact:
Barr, Huizenga Demand Information on Financial Stability Oversight Council Meeting Following Recent Bank Failures
Washington, Mar 24 -
The Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Bill Huizenga (MI-04), and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, Andy Barr (KY-06), sent letters to Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) Chair Janet Yellen and Chair of the Council of Inspectors General on Financial Oversight, Richard Delmar, demanding information on a March 12 meeting of FSOC regarding turbulence in the banking system. In the letters, Subcommittee Chairmen Huizenga and Barr request unredacted minutes of the March 12 meeting in addition to a record of all votes taken, among other information. Americans deserve transparency regarding the decisions made by federal regulators as they relate to financial stability and systemic risk, and the basis of those determinations. Read the full letter to Chair Yellen here. Read key excerpts from the letters sent to Chair Yellen below: “On March 10, two days before the March 12 FSOC meeting, you, in your role as Secretary of the Treasury ‘convened leaders from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to discuss developments around Silicon Valley Bank.’ To date, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) has yet to release any additional information regarding the substance of that meeting. … “Also on March 12, you convened a meeting as Secretary of the Treasury with Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, and FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg after which a joint statement was issued announcing that ‘[a]fter receiving a recommendation from the boards of the FDIC and the Federal Reserve, and consulting with the President, Secretary Yellen approved actions enabling the FDIC to complete its resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, California, in a manner that fully protects all depositors. . . . We are also announcing a similar systemic risk exception for Signature Bank, New York, New York, which was closed today by its state chartering authority.’” Read the full letter to Chair Delmar here. Read key excerpts from the letter sent to Chair Delmar below: “According to the Transparency Policy for the Financial Stability Oversight Council, ‘the Council is committed to conducting its business in an open and transparent manner.’ The need for transparency is further underscored in the Rules of Organization of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (‘bylaws’). Rule XXX.6 specifies that ‘[meetings] shall be held in conformity with the Council’s transparency policy under § XXX.8(c).’ Notwithstanding the transparency provisions, Section XXX.6(h) of the bylaws states, ‘[a]ny action that may be taken by the Council at a meeting may be acted on by the Council at other times through the communication of voting member votes to the Secretary of the Council, in writing, and any action approved in this manner shall have the same effect as an action taken at a meeting.’ “The events that have transpired over the last twelve days related to both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the ensuing market instability raise a number of questions for Congress. In particular, the decisions made by federal regulators as they relate to financial stability and systemic risk, and the basis of those determinations are of particular importance.” ###