Prudential Regulator Oversight Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4841) to require the prudential banking regulators to provide annual testimony to Congress on their supervision and regulation activities, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4841
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Prudential Regulator Oversight Act''. SEC. 2. ANNUAL TESTIMONY.
(a) In General.--The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end of title VI the following: ``SEC. 629. ANNUAL TESTIMONY OF PRUDENTIAL REGULATORS.
``(a) Semi-annual Report.--
``(1) In general.--The prudential regulators shall each issue a semi-annual report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives regarding the efforts, activities, objectives, and plans of the regulator with respect to the conduct of supervision and regulation of depository institution holding companies, depository institutions, and credit unions.
``(2) Specific contents.--Each report required under paragraph (1) shall include a description of--
``(A) the safety and soundness of depository institution holding companies, depository institutions, and credit unions, including capital, liquidity, leverage, stress testing, and living wills, as applicable;
``(B) the examination and supervision of depository institution holding companies, depository institutions, and credit unions, particularly G-SIBs, including--
``(i) a detailed description of public enforcement actions taken during the reporting period;
``(ii) aggregate data regarding supervisory concerns examiners have issued in writing to the boards of regulated institutions during the reporting period;
``(iii) supervisory observations by the regulator on particular areas and topics of concern identified through the examination and supervisory process; and
``(iv) a description of the regulator's exercise of all available tools beyond imposing public fines to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, as well as actions to ensure accountability for culpable executives;
``(C) emerging risks that may affect depository institutions and potential threats to the financial stability of the United States, and any actions the regulator took in coordination with the Office of Financial Research, to identify and mitigate those threats;
``(D) any recent actions taken by the regulator as a voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and any updates related to authorities the regulator has under title I or title VIII of this Act with respect to enhanced prudential standards and supervision of large bank holding companies and firms designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council;
``(E) the implementation of the regulator's diversity and inclusion efforts, including its implementation of section 342 of this Act and the regulator's compliance with section 308 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 with respect to minority depository institutions;
``(F) the implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, including information on examinations, guidance, and regulations;
``(G) any mandatory provision of law that has not been implemented yet by the regulator, including the date on which the mandatory provision will be implemented;
``(H) an overview of the mergers and acquisitions process, including data and descriptions of any mergers and acquisitions approved during the reporting period;
``(I) examinations for Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance, as well as coordination with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and appropriate communication with depository institutions and credit unions;
``(J) the utilization of financial technology as it relates to depository institution holding companies, depository institutions, and credit unions regulated by the regulator, including the use of various technologies by depository institutions and credit unions as well as partnerships with third-party companies;
``(K) cybersecurity of depository institution holding companies, depository institutions, and credit unions, including steps taken to enhance cyber readiness and strengthen the protection of consumer data; and
``(L) compliance with chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the `Administrative Procedure Act') and chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the `Congressional Review Act'), as well as all guidance documents and rulemakings issued by the prudential regulator in the previous 6-month period.
``(3) Confidentiality requirement.--Each report required under paragraph (1) shall include only information that does not constitute confidential supervisory information about a specific institution, but may include aggregate information on an industry-wide basis or on a segment of an industry.
``(b) Testimony.--
``(1) In general.--The prudential regulators shall each appear before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives at an annual hearing to testify with respect to the reports required under subsection (a).
``(2) Vice chairman for supervision.--The Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Board of Governors shall appear before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives at a semiannual hearing to testify with respect to the reports required under subsection (a). Any such appearance shall satisfy the requirements of section 10(12) of the Federal Reserve Act.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Bank secrecy act.--The term `Bank Secrecy Act' means--
``(A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act;
``(B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508; and
``(C) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code;
``(2) G-SIB.--The term `G-SIB' means a global systemically important bank holding company, as such term is defined under section 217.402 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations.
``(3) Prudential regulators.--The term `prudential regulators' means the Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Board of Governors, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Chairperson of the Corporation, and the Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration Board.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents under section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 628 the following: ``Sec. 629. Annual testimony of prudential regulators.''. SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4841, the Prudential Regulator Oversight Act, which is sponsored by Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, one of our new members of the Financial Services Committee. Through Representative Phillips' good work, this is a bipartisan bill.
H.R. 4841 would require the prudential regulators, specifically, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration to report semiannually to and testify annually before Congress on their supervisory and regulatory activities.
The Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision would continue to testify semiannually before Congress, though the new annual testimony mandate would satisfy one of the semiannual requirements.
While the OCC, FDIC, NCUA currently do not have a mandatory testimony requirement like the Federal Reserve, receiving periodic testimony from all four agencies would allow for a comprehensive examination of the state of prudential regulation, supervision, and enforcement with respect to megabanks and other depository institutions.
These reports and testimony will enhance the committee's efforts to oversee the regulators' work on a range of issues, including their efforts to hold megabanks accountable and promote diversity and inclusion.
I will highlight that Representative Phillips made a few improvements to the bill to ensure that no confidential supervisory information is disclosed. The changes would still ensure Congress gets important aggregate data and general trends on supervisory concerns, like Matters Requiring Attention and Matters Requiring Immediate Attention, that apply to the industry or segments of the industry.
It is also worth noting that before Democrats took the House majority in 2019 and provided vigorous oversight of these prudential regulators, it had been more than 3 years since either the FDIC or the NCUA testified before the Financial Services Committee.
Congress must not neglect its oversight duties, so H.R. 4841 will help ensure that we have robust and regular oversight of our prudential regulators.
Madam Speaker, I urge Members to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips), a valuable member of the Financial Services Committee and the sponsor of this legislation.
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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips).
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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time.
In closing, it is important that Congress conduct regular oversight of independent regulatory agencies like the OCC, the FDIC, and NCUA to ensure they are fulfilling the mission Congress gave them.
Mr. Phillips' bipartisan bill, the Prudential Regulator Oversight Act, will ensure Congress gets periodic updates on a range of issues, including prudential regulator efforts to hold megabanks accountable and promote diversity and inclusion.
Madam Speaker, I urge Members to support H.R. 4841, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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