Duffy Introduces "The FDIC Accountability Act" After IG Releases Disturbing Findings

Press Release

House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Sean Duffy (WI-07) introduced The FDIC Accountability Act following a hearing that shed light on the agency's irresponsible practices.

Wednesday's hearing looked into a recently released report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) Office of Inspector General (OIC) which found that the agency had made "aggressive and unprecedented efforts to use [its] supervisory and enforcement powers" to target banks for legal activities.

"The IG's report reveals a troubling pattern by FDIC officials of targeting legitimate and legal activities through abusive and unfair regulatory practices. I am concerned that the agency has repeatedly demonstrated a disregard for the rule of law, for the limitations of its own power, and for the financial institutions that it is supposed to serve." He continued, "this bill would give Congress the ability to use the power of the purse to hold the FDIC accountable, while also enabling the agency to continue to collect fees from insured depository entities to offset the funding levels as determined by Congress."

Created in 1933 in response to the bank failures resulting from the Great Depression, the FDIC insures the deposits of banks and thrift institutions up to $250,000. As a self-funded independent federal agency, the FDIC receives no appropriations from Congress -- it is entirely funded by the premiums that banks and thrift institutions pay for deposit insurance coverage and from earnings on investments in U.S. Treasury securities.

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