Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act of 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Florida (Mr. Ross) for leading the fight on this issue, and also for the support across the aisle on this issue.

Mr. Ross' bill corrects another oversight of the Dodd-Frank Act by reforming the nonbank SIFI designation process.

Mr. Speaker, this bill does not take away FSOC's ability to designate nonbank financial institutions with the SIFI tag. It simply gives these institutions a greater opportunity to be heard before their final designation from FSOC.

FSOC should not be able to simply dish out this designation to these institutions, subjecting them to Federal Reserve requirements, without explaining their reasoning. Unfortunately, we have seen FSOC do this in the past. This is especially important since nonbank financial institutions are clearly different entities than banks are. Capital requirements, for example, might not be suitable to address the risk profile of nonbank financial institutions, so why even subject them to these requirements.

This is not a smart regulation, Mr. Speaker. Simply put, the nonbank SIFI designation process is not fair in its current form. Again, this bill is a smart, targeted step that I am confident will benefit investors and benefit our economy. Transparency and fairness should be welcome and not rejected.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this bill.

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