McHenry, Barr Probe Federal Reserve Regional Banks’ Ties to Unaccountable Global Governance Organizations
Washington,
February 5, 2024 -
Today, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), and the Chairman of the Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee, Andy Barr (KY-06), sent letters to Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly and Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams regarding their banks’ ongoing relationships with opaque and unaccountable global governance organizations, including the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) and Bank of International Settlements (BIS). The lawmakers are requesting information related to the Federal Reserve (Fed) regional banks’ past work and written agreements with these organizations, which cede authority over U.S. financial regulation while putting our financial system at a competitive disadvantage.
Read the lawmakers’ full letter to San Francisco Fed President Daly here and key excerpts below:
“We write to obtain information about your Bank’s participation in research workstreams at the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). According to your Bank’s website, your economic research “team is participating in the research workstream for the Network for Greening of the Financial System.”
“For officials and staff at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) to have what appears to be an ongoing relationship and shared workstream with the NGFS, it is our understanding the FRBSF has submitted information to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board).
“In particular, according to ‘Regulation N’ (§ 214.2, Code of Federal Regulations), FRBSF must have, sometime in the past, submitted to the Board ‘in writing full information concerning all existing relationships and transactions of any kind heretofore entered into by such Federal Reserve Bank with any foreign bank or banker or with any group of foreign banks or bankers or with any foreign State…’ Therefore, it appears that the FRBSF must have submitted information to the Board at some past time regarding its work with the research workstreams of the NGFS.
Read the lawmakers’ full letter to New York Fed President Williams here and key excerpts below:
“We write to obtain additional information about the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s (FRBNY’s) participation in activities with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), including the numerous committees under the BIS umbrella, partnership with the BIS Innovation Hub, and any work by FRBNY officials and staff associated with workstreams or other activities of the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).
“For officials and staff at the FRBNY to have what appears to be an ongoing relationship and shared work with the BIS, including its Innovation Hub and its numerous committees, and with the NGFS, it is our understanding the FRBNY has submitted information to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board).
“In particular, ‘Regulation N’ directs the FRBNY to submit to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) ‘in writing full information concerning all existing relationships and transactions of any kind heretofore entered into by such Federal Reserve Bank with any foreign bank or banker or with any group of foreign banks or bankers or with any foreign State…’ It is our understanding that the FRBNY has submitted information to the Board regarding its work with the BIS, the BIS Innovation Hub, work with committees formed by the BIS, and any work with the NGFS.
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