WASHINGTON—United States Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Mike Braun (R-IN), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced the Banking Regulator International Reporting Act, legislation to increase transparency and Congressional oversight between U.S. banking regulators and certain influential international Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) by requiring an annual report from regulators on their interactions with those international NGOs.
“There has been a troubling rise in the role of international organizations working behind the scenes with U.S. regulators to influence domestic banking policy,” said Senator Hagerty. “Banking regulators are supposed to act in the best interest of Americans, and Americans alone. That is why the public needs more transparency around the role these shadowy organizations have played. I’m pleased to join this legislation to increase Congressional oversight and restore the public’s faith in our regulators.”
“Congress and the American people deserve to know what happens behind closed-door meetings between U.S. regulators and international NGOs,” said Senator Braun. “The Banking Regulator International Reporting Act increases transparency and congressional oversight on these interactions to limit their influence on U.S. banking policy.”
The Banking Regulator International Reporting Act requires an annual report from the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Administration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission on their interactions with international NGOs including the Financial Stability Board, the Bank for International Settlements, the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System, and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The report would include documentation of meeting contents, policy objectives of the organization, and the disclosure of an international NGO’s funding sources. The report would also be presented by each regulator annually to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.
Full text of the Banking Regulator International Reporting Act can be found here.
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