Paul: Subcommittee To Explore Fed Data Dump
Washington,
May 25, 2011 -
Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Ron Paul announced today the Subcommittee will hold a hearing entitled, “Federal Reserve Lending Disclosure: FOIA, Dodd-Frank, and the Data Dump.”
The hearing will explore the information disclosed by the Federal Reserve in compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act and the Freedom of Information Act regarding its emergency lending facilities, open market operations, and discount window lending that took place during the recent financial crisis. The information, made available to the public in spreadsheets and PDFs on December 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011, provides data on thousands of transactions and trillions of dollars in lending supplied by the Federal Reserve. The hearing also will explore how the Fed plans to disclose such information in the future to comply with the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1st at 2:00 p.m., in room 2128 of the Rayburn House office building.
“I am very pleased to hold this important hearing on Federal Reserve transparency, data publication, and the conduct of the Fed's monetary policy during the most critical periods of the financial crisis. While we are still far away from an acceptable level of transparency, it is still true that an unprecedented amount of information on the Fed’s actions has been disclosed to the public, and I am glad we are examining it in Congress. As our first hearing with witnesses from the Fed, I hope that we will gain a better understanding of the Fed's credit facilities, the working relationship between the New York Fed and the Board of Governors, and a roadmap for future Fed data disclosures,” said Subcommittee Chairman Paul.
Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said, “Many of the actions taken by the government in response to the financial crisis took place behind closed doors with little, if any, information provided to the public. These actions demonstrated to many of us that the Federal Reserve was in need of transparency and accountability. Now that the Fed has released information on its actions during the financial crisis, it is important for the Committee to examine the disclosures by the Federal Reserve and ensure taxpayers are protected. This Subcommittee hearing is a step towards ensuring transparency and accountability at the Federal Reserve.”
Scheduled to testify:
Scott G. Alvarez, General Counsel, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Thomas C. Baxter, General Counsel, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
