[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 113 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 113

    To improve the accountability and transparency of the Board of 
    Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2015

 Mr. Garrett introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To improve the accountability and transparency of the Board of 
    Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Federal Reserve Accountability and 
Transparency Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.

    Section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 248) is amended by 
inserting after subsection (l) the following:
    ``(m) Consideration of Economic Impacts.--
            ``(1) In general.--Before issuing any regulation, the Board 
        of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall--
                    ``(A) clearly identify the nature and source of the 
                problem that the proposed regulation is designed to 
                address, as well as assess the significance of that 
                problem, to enable assessment of whether any new 
                regulation is warranted;
                    ``(B) assess the costs and benefits, both 
                qualitative and quantitative, of the intended 
                regulation and propose or adopt a regulation only on a 
                reasoned determination that the benefits of the 
                intended regulation outweigh the costs of the 
                regulation;
                    ``(C) identify and assess available alternatives to 
                the regulation that were considered, including 
                modification of an existing regulation, together with 
                an explanation of why the regulation meets the 
                regulatory objectives more effectively than the 
                alternatives; and
                    ``(D) ensure that any regulation is accessible, 
                consistent, written in plain language, and easy to 
                understand and shall measure, and seek to improve, the 
                actual results of regulatory requirements.
            ``(2) Considerations and actions.--
                    ``(A) Required actions.--In deciding whether and 
                how to regulate, the Board shall assess the costs and 
                benefits of available regulatory alternatives, 
                including the alternative of not regulating, and choose 
                the approach that maximizes net benefits. Specifically, 
                the Board shall--
                            ``(i) evaluate whether, consistent with 
                        obtaining regulatory objectives, the regulation 
                        is tailored to impose the least burden on 
                        society, including market participants, 
                        individuals, businesses of differing sizes, and 
                        other entities (including State and local 
                        governmental entities), taking into account, to 
                        the extent practicable, the cumulative costs of 
                        regulations; and
                            ``(ii) evaluate whether the regulation is 
                        inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative of 
                        other Federal regulations.
                    ``(B) Additional considerations.--In addition, in 
                making a reasoned determination of the costs and 
                benefits of a potential regulation, the Board shall, to 
                the extent that each is relevant to the particular 
                proposed regulation, take into consideration the impact 
                of the regulation on--
                            ``(i) investor choice;
                            ``(ii) market liquidity in the securities 
                        markets;
                            ``(iii) small businesses;
                            ``(iv) economic growth;
                            ``(v) cost and access to capital;
                            ``(vi) market stability;
                            ``(vii) global competitiveness;
                            ``(viii) job creation;
                            ``(ix) rate of inflation; and
                            ``(x) employment levels.
            ``(3) Explanation and comments.--The Board shall explain in 
        its final rule the nature of comments that it received, 
        including those from the industry or consumer groups concerning 
        the potential costs or benefits of the proposed rule or 
        proposed rule change, and shall provide a response to those 
        comments in its final rule, including an explanation of any 
        changes that were made in response to those comments and the 
        reasons that the Board did not incorporate those industry group 
        concerns related to the potential costs or benefits in the 
        final rule.
            ``(4) Post-adoption impact assessment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Whenever the Board adopts or 
                amends a regulation designated as a `major rule' within 
                the meaning of section 804(2) of title 5, United States 
                Code, it shall state, in its adopting release, the 
                following:
                            ``(i) The purposes and intended 
                        consequences of the regulation.
                            ``(ii) Appropriate post-implementation 
                        quantitative and qualitative metrics to measure 
                        the economic impact of the regulation and to 
                        measure the extent to which the regulation has 
                        accomplished the stated purposes.
                            ``(iii) The assessment plan that will be 
                        used, consistent with the requirements of 
                        subparagraph (B), to assess whether the 
                        regulation has achieved the stated purposes.
                            ``(iv) Any reasonably foreseeable indirect 
                        effects that may result from the regulation.
                    ``(B) Requirements of assessment plan and report.--
                            ``(i) Requirements of plan.--The assessment 
                        plan required under this paragraph shall 
                        consider the costs, benefits, and intended and 
                        unintended consequences of the regulation. The 
                        plan shall specify the data to be collected, 
                        the methods for collection and analysis of the 
                        data and a date for completion of the 
                        assessment. The assessment plan shall include 
                        an analysis of any jobs added or lost as a 
                        result of the regulation, differentiating 
                        between public and private sector jobs.
                            ``(ii) Submission and publication of 
                        report.--The Board shall, not later than 2 
                        years after the publication of the adopting 
                        release, cause the assessment report to be 
                        published in the Federal Register for notice 
                        and comment. If the Board determines, at least 
                        90 days before such date, that an extension is 
                        necessary, the Board shall publish a notice of 
                        such extension in the Federal Register, along 
                        with the specific reasons why the extension is 
                        necessary. Any material modification of the 
                        plan, as necessary to assess unforeseen aspects 
                        or consequences of the regulation, shall be 
                        promptly published in the Federal Register for 
                        notice and comment.
                            ``(iii) Data collection not subject to 
                        notice and comment requirements.--If the Board 
                        has published its assessment plan for notice 
                        and comment, specifying the data to be 
                        collected and method of collection, at least 30 
                        days prior to adoption of a final regulation or 
                        amendment, such collection of data shall not be 
                        subject to the notice and comment requirements 
                        in section 3506(c) of title 44, United States 
                        Code (commonly referred to as the Paperwork 
                        Reduction Act). Any material modifications of 
                        the plan that require collection of data not 
                        previously published for notice and comment 
                        shall also be exempt from such requirements if 
                        the Board has published notice for comment in 
                        the Federal Register of the additional data to 
                        be collected, at least 30 days prior to 
                        initiation of data collection.
                            ``(iv) Final action.--Not later than 180 
                        days after publication of the assessment report 
                        in the Federal Register, the Board shall issue 
                        for notice and comment a proposal to amend or 
                        rescind the regulation, or publish a notice 
                        that the Board has determined that no action 
                        will be taken on the regulation. Such a notice 
                        will be deemed a final agency action.
            ``(5) Covered regulations and other actions.--Solely as 
        used in this subsection, the term `regulation'--
                    ``(A) means a statement of general applicability 
                and future effect that is designed to implement, 
                interpret, or prescribe law or policy or to describe 
                the procedure or practice requirements of the Board of 
                Governors, including rules, orders of general 
                applicability, interpretive releases, and other 
                statements of general applicability that the Board of 
                Governors intends to have the force and effect of law; 
                and
                    ``(B) does not include--
                            ``(i) a regulation issued in accordance 
                        with the formal rulemaking provisions of 
                        section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States 
                        Code;
                            ``(ii) a regulation that is limited to the 
                        organization, management, or personnel matters 
                        of the Board of Governors;
                            ``(iii) a regulation promulgated pursuant 
                        to statutory authority that expressly prohibits 
                        compliance with this provision; and
                            ``(iv) a regulation that is certified by 
                        the Board of Governors to be an emergency 
                        action, if such certification is published in 
                        the Federal Register.''.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE BLACKOUT PERIOD.

    Section 12A of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 263) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Blackout Period.--
            ``(1) In general.--During a blackout period, the only 
        public communications that may be made by members and staff of 
        the Committee with respect to macroeconomic or financial 
        developments or about current or prospective monetary policy 
        issues are the following:
                    ``(A) The dissemination of published data, surveys, 
                and reports that have been cleared for publication by 
                the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
                    ``(B) Answering technical questions specific to a 
                data release.
                    ``(C) Communications with respect to the prudential 
                or supervisory functions of the Board of Governors.
            ``(2) Blackout period defined.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, and with respect to a meeting of the Committee 
        described under subsection (a), the term `blackout period' 
        means the time period that--
                    ``(A) begins immediately after midnight on the day 
                that is 1-week prior to the date on which such meeting 
                takes place; and
                    ``(B) ends at midnight on the day after the date on 
                which such meeting takes place.''.

SEC. 4. STAFF TERM LIMITS, PAY, ETHICS STANDARDS, AND FINANCIAL 
              DISCLOSURES.

    (a) In General.--Section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 
248) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the second subsection (s) (relating to 
        assessments, fees, and other charges) as subsection (t); and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(u) Ethics Standards for Members and Employees.--
            ``(1) Prohibited and restricted financial interests and 
        transactions.--The members and employees of the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall be subject to the 
        provisions under section 4401.102 of title 5, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, to the same extent as such provisions apply to an 
        employee of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
            ``(2) Treatment of brokerage accounts and availability of 
        account statements.--The members and employees of the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall--
                    ``(A) disclose all brokerage accounts that they 
                maintain, as well as those in which they control 
                trading or have a financial interest (including managed 
                accounts, trust accounts, investment club accounts, and 
                the accounts of spouses or minor children who live with 
                the member or employee); and
                    ``(B) with respect to any securities account that 
                the member or employee is required to disclose to the 
                Board of Governors, authorize their brokers and dealers 
                to send duplicate account statements directly to Board 
                of Governors.
            ``(3) Prohibitions related to outside employment and 
        activities.--The members and employees of the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall be subject to the 
        prohibitions related to outside employment and activities 
        described under section 4401.103(c) of title 5, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, to the same extent as such prohibitions apply to 
        an employee of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
            ``(4) Additional ethics standards.--The members and 
        employees of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
        System shall be subject to--
                    ``(A) the employee responsibilities and conduct 
                regulations of the Office of Personnel Management under 
                part 735 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations;
                    ``(B) the canons of ethics contained in subpart C 
                of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, 
                to the same extent as such subpart applies to the 
                employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission; 
                and
                    ``(C) the regulations concerning the conduct of 
                members and employees and former members and employees 
                contained in subpart M of part 200 of title 17, Code of 
                Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such subpart 
                applies to the employees of the Securities and Exchange 
                Commission.
    ``(v) Additional Employees Required To Make a Public Financial 
Disclosure.--For purposes of the financial disclosure requirements 
under part 2634 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, an employee of 
the Board of Governors shall be deemed a public filer if the employee 
is an attorney, accountant, examiner, auditor, investigator, or deals 
with information technology security.
    ``(w) Disclosure of Staff Salaries and Financial Information.--The 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall make publicly 
available, on the website of the Board of Governors, a searchable 
database that contains the names of all Members, officers, and 
employees of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and 
each Federal reserve bank, and--
            ``(1) the yearly salary information for such individuals, 
        along with any non-salary compensation received by such 
        individuals; and
            ``(2) any financial disclosures required to be made by such 
        individuals.''.
    (b) Limitation on Federal Reserve System Staff Pay and Terms of 
Office.--The Federal Reserve Act is amended--
            (1) in the provision enumerated ``Fifth'' of the fourth 
        undesignated paragraph of section 4, by inserting after the 
        first sentence the following: ``Such president, vice 
        presidents, and other officers and employees may not be paid a 
        salary in excess of 99 percent of the salary of the Chairman of 
        the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. No person 
        may serve for more than 6 years in any one of the following 
        positions: general counsel, deputy general counsel, senior 
        adviser, director, deputy director, senior associate director, 
        and assistant director.''; and
            (2) in section 11(l), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``No attorney, expert, assistant, clerk, or other employee of 
        the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System may be 
        paid a salary in excess of 99 percent of the salary of the 
        Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
        System. No person may serve for more than 6 years in any one of 
        the following positions: general counsel, deputy general 
        counsel, senior adviser, director, deputy director, senior 
        associate director, and assistant director.''.
    (c) Office Staff for Each Member of the Board of Governors.--
Section 11(l) of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended by subsection (b), 
is further amended by adding at the end the following: ``Each member of 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System may employ 4 
individuals for the purpose of staffing the member's office, with such 
individuals selected by such member and the salaries of such 
individuals set by such member.''.
    (d) GAO Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall carry out a study on--
                    (A) employee pay and the employee pay scale used by 
                the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 
                including--
                            (i) how individual employee compensation 
                        relates to job function, educational 
                        attainment, and work experience; and
                            (ii) how the pay scale compares to the pay 
                        scales used by other Federal departments and 
                        agencies, especially other financial 
                        regulators; and
                    (B) requiring the Board of Governors of the Federal 
                Reserve System to be funded through the regular 
                appropriations process.
            (2) Report.--Not later than the end of the 180-day period 
        beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
        Comptroller General shall issue a report to the Congress 
        containing--
                    (A) all findings and determinations made by the 
                Comptroller General in carrying out the study required 
                under paragraph (1);
                    (B) recommendations on how to make the pay scale 
                used by the Board of Governors more consistent with pay 
                scales used by other Federal departments and agencies; 
                and
                    (C) a report on the pay amounts for employees at 
                the Board of Governors, broken down by division and job 
                function.

SEC. 5. VICE CHAIRMAN FOR SUPERVISION REPORT REQUIREMENT.

    Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (12) as paragraph (11); and
            (2) in paragraph (11), as so redesignated, by adding at the 
        end the following: ``In each such appearance, the Vice Chairman 
        for Supervision shall provide written testimony that includes 
        the status of all pending and anticipated rulemakings that are 
        being made by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
        System. If, at the time of any appearance described in this 
        paragraph, the position of Vice Chairman for Supervision is 
        vacant, the Vice Chairman for the Board of Governors of the 
        Federal Reserve System (who has the responsibility to serve in 
        the absence of the Chairman) shall appear instead and provide 
        the required written testimony. If, at the time of any 
        appearance described in this paragraph, both Vice Chairman 
        positions are vacant, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of 
        the Federal Reserve System shall appear instead and provide the 
        required written testimony.''.

SEC. 6. FEDERAL RESERVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH CONGRESS.

    Section 2B of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 225b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Question period.--During any appearance before a 
        committee of the Congress, the Chairman or any other official 
        or employee of the Board of Governors making such appearance 
        shall remain as long as members of the committee have 
        questions, but no later than 5 p.m.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the heading for such subsection, by striking 
                ``Report'' and inserting ``Reports, Questions, and 
                Meetings'';
                    (B) by striking ``The Board'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(1) In general.--The Board''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Responses to congressional committee questions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than the end of the 6-
                week period following the date on which any member or 
                employee of the Board of Governors of the Federal 
                Reserve System appears before a committee of the 
                Congress, the Board shall respond, in writing, to any 
                questions submitted by such committee.
                    ``(B) Inability to meet deadline.--If the written 
                response described under subparagraph (A) cannot be 
                provided within the 6-week period described under such 
                subparagraph, the Chairman of the Board shall inform 
                the chairman of the appropriate committee, in writing, 
                within such 6-week period--
                            ``(i) as to why the Board is unable to 
                        provide the written response within the 6-week 
                        period; and
                            ``(ii) the expected date on which the Board 
                        will respond to such questions.
            ``(3) Congressional meeting request accountability.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Upon receiving a meeting request 
                from a member or staff member serving on the Committee 
                on Financial Services or the Budget of the House of 
                Representatives or the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                and Urban Affairs or the Budget of the Senate, the 
                Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
                shall--
                            ``(i) respond, within 3 business days, to 
                        notify such member or staff member that the 
                        request has been received; and
                            ``(ii) include in such response whether the 
                        meeting request can be accommodated and, if so, 
                        the dates and times when officers and employees 
                        of the Board are available for such meeting.
                    ``(B) Inability to accommodate meeting.--If, in a 
                response described under subparagraph (A), the Board 
                states that the meeting cannot be accommodated within 
                the 2-week period following such response, the Chairman 
                of the Board shall accompany such response with a 
                detailed written explanation to the chairman of the 
                committee as to why the meeting cannot be accommodated 
                within such period and when the request will be 
                accommodated.
            ``(4) Salary freeze while in violation.--During any period 
        of time with respect to which the Board of Governors or the 
        Chairman of the Board of Governors is in violation of any 
        provision of this subsection, no employee of the Board of 
        Governors may receive an increase in salary or other 
        compensation.''.

SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY OF REGULATORY ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Stress Test Rulemaking, GAO Review, and Publication of 
Results.--Section 165(i)(1)(B) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 
Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5365(i)(1)(B)) is amended--
            (1) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:
                            ``(i) shall--
                                    ``(I) issue regulations, after 
                                providing for public notice and 
                                comment, that provide for at least 3 
                                different sets of conditions under 
                                which the evaluation required by this 
                                subsection shall be conducted, 
                                including baseline, adverse, and 
                                severely adverse, and methodologies 
                                including models used to estimate 
                                losses on certain assets;
                                    ``(II) provide copies of such 
                                regulations to the Comptroller General 
                                of the United States and the Panel of 
                                Economic Advisors of the Congressional 
                                Budget Office before publishing such 
                                regulations;''; and
            (2) in clause (v), by inserting before the period the 
        following: ``, including any results of a resubmitted test''.
    (b) Publication of the Number of Supervisory Letters Sent to the 
Largest Bank Holding Companies.--Section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Wall 
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5365) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Publication of Supervisory Letter Information.--The Board of 
Governors shall publicly disclose--
            ``(1) the aggregate number of supervisory letters sent to 
        bank holding companies described in subsection (a) since the 
        date of the enactment of this section, and keep such number 
        updated; and
            ``(2) the aggregate number of such letters that are 
        designated as `Matters Requiring Attention' and the aggregate 
        number of such letters that are designated as `Matters 
        Requiring Immediate Attention'.''.
    (c) Disclosure of Audits and Reviews to Appropriate Committees.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than the end of the 30-day 
        period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
        Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall submit 
        to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
        Urban Affairs of the Senate unredacted copies of--
                    (A) the Board of Governors' Review of Regulatory 
                Supervisory Audit;
                    (B) the Board of Governors' 2003-2008 Performance 
                Review; and
                    (C) each performance review performed by the Board 
                of Governors after the date of the enactment of this 
                Act.
            (2) Notice of sensitive information.--The Board of 
        Governors shall ensure that the documents described under 
        paragraph (1) are accompanied by a list of any sections in such 
        documents that the Board of Governors deems to be sensitive 
        information that should not be made public.

SEC. 8. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DIRECTORS AND PRESIDENTS.

    (a) Elimination of Class C Directors.--Section 4 of the Federal 
Reserve Act is amended--
            (1) in the provision enumerated ``Fifth'' of the fourth 
        undesignated paragraph, by striking ``and Class C'';
            (2) in the ninth undesignated paragraph, by striking 
        ``classes A, B, and C'' and inserting ``classes A and B'';
            (3) in the tenth undesignated paragraph, by striking 
        ``three members'' and inserting ``four members'';
            (4) in the eleventh undesignated paragraph, by striking 
        ``three members'' and inserting ``five members'';
            (5) by striking the twelfth and fifteenth undesignated 
        paragraphs;
            (6) by amending the twentieth undesignated paragraph to 
        read as follows:
            ``(20) Designation of chairman and deputy chairman.--
                    ``(A) Designation of chairman.--
                            ``(i) In general.--One of the class A or B 
                        directors who has tested banking experience 
                        shall be designated by the Board of Governors 
                        of the Federal Reserve System as chairman of 
                        the board of directors of the Federal reserve 
                        bank and as Federal reserve agent.
                            ``(ii) Duties.--The chairman shall--
                                    ``(I) maintain, under regulations 
                                to be established by the Board of 
                                Governors of the Federal Reserve 
                                System, a local office of said board on 
                                the premises of the Federal reserve 
                                bank;
                                    ``(II) make regular reports to the 
                                Board of Governors of the Federal 
                                Reserve System; and
                                    ``(III) act as the official 
                                representative of the Board of 
                                Governors for the performance of the 
                                functions conferred upon it by this 
                                Act.
                            ``(iii) Compensation.--The chairman shall 
                        receive an annual compensation to be fixed by 
                        the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
                        System and paid monthly by the Federal reserve 
                        bank to which the chairman is designated.
                    ``(B) Designation of deputy chairman.--One of the 
                class A or B directors shall be appointed by the Board 
                of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as deputy 
                chairman to exercise the powers of the chairman of the 
                board when necessary.''; and
            (7) by amending the twenty-fourth undesignated paragraph to 
        read as follows:
            ``(24) Term of directors; vacancies.--
                    ``(A) Term of directors.--Every director of a 
                Federal reserve bank shall hold office for a term of 
                three years, and such terms shall be staggered, from 
                the date of the enactment of this paragraph, such 
                that--
                            ``(i) with respect to the four class A 
                        directors, one director's term shall expire in 
                        each of the first and second years and two 
                        directors' terms shall expire in the third 
                        year; and
                            ``(ii) with respect to the five class B 
                        directors, one director's term shall expire in 
                        the first year and two directors' terms shall 
                        expire in each of the second and third years.
                    ``(B) Vacancies.--Vacancies that may occur in the 
                several classes of directors of Federal reserve banks 
                may be filled in the manner provided for the original 
                selection of such directors, such appointees to hold 
                office for the unexpired terms of their 
                predecessors.''.
    (b) Appointment of Bank President and Vice President.--The 
provision enumerated ``Fifth'' of the fourth undesignated paragraph of 
section 4 of the Federal Reserve Act is amended by striking ``with the 
approval of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,''.

SEC. 9. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND NEGOTIATIONS.

    (a) International Travel.--Section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act 
(12 U.S.C. 248), as amended by section 4, is further amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(x) Temporary Authorization for International Travel.--
            ``(1) In general.--Members and employees of the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System may not travel outside 
        of the United States for the purposes of performing any 
        function on behalf of the Board of Governors of the Federal 
        Reserve System after the end of the 2-year period beginning on 
        the date of enactment of this subsection.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to travel 
        through another country for purposes of traveling from one part 
        of the United States to another part of the United States.''.
    (b) International Negotiations.--Section 11 of the Federal Reserve 
Act (12 U.S.C. 248), as amended by subsection (a), is further amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(y) International Negotiations.--
            ``(1) Notice of negotiations; consultation.--At least 90 
        calendar days before any Member or employee of the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System enters into 
        negotiations with any foreign or multinational entity, the 
        Board of Governors shall--
                    ``(A) issue a notice of negotiations to the 
                Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
                Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                and Urban Affairs of the Senate;
                    ``(B) make such notice available to the public, 
                including on the website of the Board of Governors; and
                    ``(C) solicit public comment, and consult with the 
                committees described under subparagraph (A), with 
                respect to the topic matter, scope, and goals of the 
                negotiations.
            ``(2) Public reports on negotiations.--After the end of any 
        negotiation described under paragraph (1), the Board of 
        Governors shall issue a public report on the topics that were 
        discussed at the negotiation and any new or revised rulemakings 
        or policy changes that the Board of Governors believe should be 
        enacted as a result of the negotiations.
            ``(3) Notice of agreements; consultation.--At least 90 
        calendar days before any Member or employee of the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System enters into any 
        agreement with any foreign or multinational entity, the Board 
        of Governors shall--
                    ``(A) issue a notice of agreement to the Committee 
                on Financial Services of the House of Representatives 
                and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs of the Senate;
                    ``(B) make such notice available to the public, 
                including on the website of the Board of Governors; and
                    ``(C) consult with such committees with respect to 
                the nature of the agreement and any anticipated effects 
                such agreement will have on the economy.''.

SEC. 10. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINATION 
              COUNCIL.

    (a) Economic Analysis.--Section 1008 of the Federal Financial 
Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3305) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Consideration of Economic Impacts.--
            ``(1) In general.--Before issuing any regulation, the 
        Council shall--
                    ``(A) clearly identify the nature and source of the 
                problem that the proposed regulation is designed to 
                address, as well as assess the significance of that 
                problem, to enable assessment of whether any new 
                regulation is warranted;
                    ``(B) assess the costs and benefits, both 
                qualitative and quantitative, of the intended 
                regulation and propose or adopt a regulation only on a 
                reasoned determination that the benefits of the 
                intended regulation outweigh the costs of the 
                regulation;
                    ``(C) identify and assess available alternatives to 
                the regulation that were considered, including 
                modification of an existing regulation, together with 
                an explanation of why the regulation meets the 
                regulatory objectives more effectively than the 
                alternatives; and
                    ``(D) ensure that any regulation is accessible, 
                consistent, written in plain language, and easy to 
                understand and shall measure, and seek to improve, the 
                actual results of regulatory requirements.
            ``(2) Considerations and actions.--
                    ``(A) Required actions.--In deciding whether and 
                how to regulate, the Council shall assess the costs and 
                benefits of available regulatory alternatives, 
                including the alternative of not regulating, and choose 
                the approach that maximizes net benefits. Specifically, 
                the Council shall--
                            ``(i) evaluate whether, consistent with 
                        obtaining regulatory objectives, the regulation 
                        is tailored to impose the least burden on 
                        society, including market participants, 
                        individuals, businesses of differing sizes, and 
                        other entities (including State and local 
                        governmental entities), taking into account, to 
                        the extent practicable, the cumulative costs of 
                        regulations; and
                            ``(ii) evaluate whether the regulation is 
                        inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative of 
                        other Federal regulations.
                    ``(B) Additional considerations.--In addition, in 
                making a reasoned determination of the costs and 
                benefits of a potential regulation, the Council shall, 
                to the extent that each is relevant to the particular 
                proposed regulation, take into consideration the impact 
                of the regulation on--
                            ``(i) investor choice;
                            ``(ii) market liquidity in the securities 
                        markets;
                            ``(iii) small businesses;
                            ``(iv) economic growth;
                            ``(v) cost and access to capital;
                            ``(vi) market stability;
                            ``(vii) global competitiveness;
                            ``(viii) job creation;
                            ``(ix) rate of inflation; and
                            ``(x) employment levels.
            ``(3) Explanation and comments.--The Council shall explain 
        in its final rule the nature of comments that it received, 
        including those from the industry or consumer groups concerning 
        the potential costs or benefits of the proposed rule or 
        proposed rule change, and shall provide a response to those 
        comments in its final rule, including an explanation of any 
        changes that were made in response to those comments and the 
        reasons that the Council did not incorporate those industry 
        group concerns related to the potential costs or benefits in 
        the final rule.
            ``(4) Post-adoption impact assessment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Whenever the Council adopts or 
                amends a regulation designated as a `major rule' within 
                the meaning of section 804(2) of title 5, United States 
                Code, it shall state, in its adopting release, the 
                following:
                            ``(i) The purposes and intended 
                        consequences of the regulation.
                            ``(ii) Appropriate post-implementation 
                        quantitative and qualitative metrics to measure 
                        the economic impact of the regulation and to 
                        measure the extent to which the regulation has 
                        accomplished the stated purposes.
                            ``(iii) The assessment plan that will be 
                        used, consistent with the requirements of 
                        subparagraph (B), to assess whether the 
                        regulation has achieved the stated purposes.
                            ``(iv) Any reasonably foreseeable indirect 
                        effects that may result from the regulation.
                    ``(B) Requirements of assessment plan and report.--
                            ``(i) Requirements of plan.--The assessment 
                        plan required under this paragraph shall 
                        consider the costs, benefits, and intended and 
                        unintended consequences of the regulation. The 
                        plan shall specify the data to be collected, 
                        the methods for collection and analysis of the 
                        data and a date for completion of the 
                        assessment. The assessment plan shall include 
                        an analysis of any jobs added or lost as a 
                        result of the regulation, differentiating 
                        between public and private sector jobs.
                            ``(ii) Submission and publication of 
                        report.--The Council shall, not later than 2 
                        years after the publication of the adopting 
                        release, cause the assessment report to be 
                        published in the Federal Register for notice 
                        and comment. If the Council determines, at 
                        least 90 days before such date, that an 
                        extension is necessary, the Council shall 
                        public a notice of such extension in the 
                        Federal Register, along with the specific 
                        reasons why the extension is necessary. Any 
                        material modification of the plan, as necessary 
                        to assess unforeseen aspects or consequences of 
                        the regulation, shall be promptly published in 
                        the Federal Register for notice and comment.
                            ``(iii) Data collection not subject to 
                        notice and comment requirements.--If the 
                        Council has published its assessment plan for 
                        notice and comment, specifying the data to be 
                        collected and method of collection, at least 30 
                        days prior to adoption of a final regulation or 
                        amendment, such collection of data shall not be 
                        subject to the notice and comment requirements 
                        in section 3506(c) of title 44, United States 
                        Code (commonly referred to as the Paperwork 
                        Reduction Act). Any material modifications of 
                        the plan that require collection of data not 
                        previously published for notice and comment 
                        shall also be exempt from such requirements if 
                        the Council has published notice for comment in 
                        the Federal Register of the additional data to 
                        be collected, at least 30 days prior to 
                        initiation of data collection.
                            ``(iv) Final action.--Not later than 180 
                        days after publication of the assessment report 
                        in the Federal Register, the Council shall 
                        issue for notice and comment a proposal to 
                        amend or rescind the regulation, or publish a 
                        notice that the Council has determined that no 
                        action will be taken on the regulation. Such a 
                        notice will be deemed a final agency action.
            ``(5) Covered regulations and other actions.--Solely as 
        used in this subsection, the term `regulation'--
                    ``(A) means a statement of general applicability 
                and future effect that is designed to implement, 
                interpret, or prescribe law or policy or to describe 
                the procedure or practice requirements of the Council, 
                including rules, orders of general applicability, 
                interpretive releases, and other statements of general 
                applicability that the Council intends to have the 
                force and effect of law; and
                    ``(B) does not include--
                            ``(i) a regulation issued in accordance 
                        with the formal rulemaking provisions of 
                        section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States 
                        Code;
                            ``(ii) a regulation that is limited to the 
                        organization, management, or personnel matters 
                        of the Council;
                            ``(iii) a regulation promulgated pursuant 
                        to statutory authority that expressly prohibits 
                        compliance with this provision; and
                            ``(iv) a regulation that is certified by 
                        the Council to be an emergency action, if such 
                        certification is published in the Federal 
                        Register.''.
    (b) Ethics Standards.--Section 1008 of the Federal Financial 
Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3305), as 
amended by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(e) Ethics Standards.--
            ``(1) Prohibited and restricted financial interests and 
        transactions.--The members and employees of the Council shall 
        be subject to the provisions under section 4401.102 of title 5, 
        Code of Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such 
        provisions apply to an employee of the Securities and Exchange 
        Commission.
            ``(2) Treatment of brokerage accounts and availability of 
        account statements.--The members and employees of the Council 
        shall--
                    ``(A) disclose all brokerage accounts that they 
                maintain, as well as those in which they control 
                trading or have a financial interest (including managed 
                accounts, trust accounts, investment club accounts, and 
                the accounts of spouses or minor children who live with 
                the member or employee); and
                    ``(B) with respect to any securities account that 
                the member or employee is required to disclose to the 
                Council, authorize their brokers and dealers to send 
                duplicate account statements directly to Council.
            ``(3) Prohibitions related to outside employment and 
        activities.--The members and employees of the Council shall be 
        subject to the prohibitions related to outside employment and 
        activities described under section 4401.103(c) of title 5, Code 
        of Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such prohibitions 
        apply to an employee of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
            ``(4) Additional ethics standards.--The members and 
        employees of the Council shall be subject to--
                    ``(A) the employee responsibilities and conduct 
                regulations of the Office of Personnel Management under 
                part 735 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations;
                    ``(B) the canons of ethics contained in subpart C 
                of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, 
                to the same extent as such subpart applies to the 
                employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission; 
                and
                    ``(C) the regulations concerning the conduct of 
                members and employees and former members and employees 
                contained in subpart M of part 200 of title 17, Code of 
                Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such subpart 
                applies to the employees of the Securities and Exchange 
                Commission.
    ``(f) Additional Employees Required To Make a Public Financial 
Disclosure.--For purposes of the financial disclosure requirements 
under part 2634 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, an employee of 
the Council shall be deemed a public filer if the employee is an 
attorney, accountant, examiner, auditor, investigator, or deals with 
information technology security.
    ``(g) Disclosure of Staff Salaries and Financial Information.--The 
Council shall make publicly available, on the website of the Council, a 
searchable database that contains the names of all Members and 
employees of the Council, and--
            ``(1) the yearly salary information for such individuals, 
        along with any non-salary compensation received by such 
        individuals; and
            ``(2) any financial disclosures required to be made by such 
        individuals.''.

SEC. 11. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT COUNCIL.

    (a) Economic Analysis.--Section 111 of the Financial Stability Act 
of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5321) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Consideration of Economic Impacts.--
            ``(1) In general.--Before issuing any regulation, the 
        Council shall--
                    ``(A) clearly identify the nature and source of the 
                problem that the proposed regulation is designed to 
                address, as well as assess the significance of that 
                problem, to enable assessment of whether any new 
                regulation is warranted;
                    ``(B) assess the costs and benefits, both 
                qualitative and quantitative, of the intended 
                regulation and propose or adopt a regulation only on a 
                reasoned determination that the benefits of the 
                intended regulation outweigh the costs of the 
                regulation;
                    ``(C) identify and assess available alternatives to 
                the regulation that were considered, including 
                modification of an existing regulation, together with 
                an explanation of why the regulation meets the 
                regulatory objectives more effectively than the 
                alternatives; and
                    ``(D) ensure that any regulation is accessible, 
                consistent, written in plain language, and easy to 
                understand and shall measure, and seek to improve, the 
                actual results of regulatory requirements.
            ``(2) Considerations and actions.--
                    ``(A) Required actions.--In deciding whether and 
                how to regulate, the Council shall assess the costs and 
                benefits of available regulatory alternatives, 
                including the alternative of not regulating, and choose 
                the approach that maximizes net benefits. Specifically, 
                the Council shall--
                            ``(i) evaluate whether, consistent with 
                        obtaining regulatory objectives, the regulation 
                        is tailored to impose the least burden on 
                        society, including market participants, 
                        individuals, businesses of differing sizes, and 
                        other entities (including State and local 
                        governmental entities), taking into account, to 
                        the extent practicable, the cumulative costs of 
                        regulations; and
                            ``(ii) evaluate whether the regulation is 
                        inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative of 
                        other Federal regulations.
                    ``(B) Additional considerations.--In addition, in 
                making a reasoned determination of the costs and 
                benefits of a potential regulation, the Council shall, 
                to the extent that each is relevant to the particular 
                proposed regulation, take into consideration the impact 
                of the regulation on--
                            ``(i) investor choice;
                            ``(ii) market liquidity in the securities 
                        markets;
                            ``(iii) small businesses;
                            ``(iv) economic growth;
                            ``(v) cost and access to capital;
                            ``(vi) market stability;
                            ``(vii) global competitiveness;
                            ``(viii) job creation;
                            ``(ix) rate of inflation; and
                            ``(x) employment levels.
            ``(3) Explanation and comments.--The Council shall explain 
        in its final rule the nature of comments that it received, 
        including those from the industry or consumer groups concerning 
        the potential costs or benefits of the proposed rule or 
        proposed rule change, and shall provide a response to those 
        comments in its final rule, including an explanation of any 
        changes that were made in response to those comments and the 
        reasons that the Council did not incorporate those industry 
        group concerns related to the potential costs or benefits in 
        the final rule.
            ``(4) Post-adoption impact assessment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Whenever the Council adopts or 
                amends a regulation designated as a `major rule' within 
                the meaning of section 804(2) of title 5, United States 
                Code, it shall state, in its adopting release, the 
                following:
                            ``(i) The purposes and intended 
                        consequences of the regulation.
                            ``(ii) Appropriate post-implementation 
                        quantitative and qualitative metrics to measure 
                        the economic impact of the regulation and to 
                        measure the extent to which the regulation has 
                        accomplished the stated purposes.
                            ``(iii) The assessment plan that will be 
                        used, consistent with the requirements of 
                        subparagraph (B), to assess whether the 
                        regulation has achieved the stated purposes.
                            ``(iv) Any reasonably foreseeable indirect 
                        effects that may result from the regulation.
                    ``(B) Requirements of assessment plan and report.--
                            ``(i) Requirements of plan.--The assessment 
                        plan required under this paragraph shall 
                        consider the costs, benefits, and intended and 
                        unintended consequences of the regulation. The 
                        plan shall specify the data to be collected, 
                        the methods for collection and analysis of the 
                        data and a date for completion of the 
                        assessment. The assessment plan shall include 
                        an analysis of any jobs added or lost as a 
                        result of the regulation, differentiating 
                        between public and private sector jobs.
                            ``(ii) Submission and publication of 
                        report.--The Council shall, not later than 2 
                        years after the publication of the adopting 
                        release, cause the assessment report to be 
                        published in the Federal Register for notice 
                        and comment. If the Council determines, at 
                        least 90 days before such date, that an 
                        extension is necessary, the Council shall 
                        public a notice of such extension in the 
                        Federal Register, along with the specific 
                        reasons why the extension is necessary. Any 
                        material modification of the plan, as necessary 
                        to assess unforeseen aspects or consequences of 
                        the regulation, shall be promptly published in 
                        the Federal Register for notice and comment.
                            ``(iii) Data collection not subject to 
                        notice and comment requirements.--If the 
                        Council has published its assessment plan for 
                        notice and comment, specifying the data to be 
                        collected and method of collection, at least 30 
                        days prior to adoption of a final regulation or 
                        amendment, such collection of data shall not be 
                        subject to the notice and comment requirements 
                        in section 3506(c) of title 44, United States 
                        Code (commonly referred to as the Paperwork 
                        Reduction Act). Any material modifications of 
                        the plan that require collection of data not 
                        previously published for notice and comment 
                        shall also be exempt from such requirements if 
                        the Council has published notice for comment in 
                        the Federal Register of the additional data to 
                        be collected, at least 30 days prior to 
                        initiation of data collection.
                            ``(iv) Final action.--Not later than 180 
                        days after publication of the assessment report 
                        in the Federal Register, the Council shall 
                        issue for notice and comment a proposal to 
                        amend or rescind the regulation, or publish a 
                        notice that the Council has determined that no 
                        action will be taken on the regulation. Such a 
                        notice will be deemed a final agency action.
            ``(5) Covered regulations and other actions.--Solely as 
        used in this subsection, the term `regulation'--
                    ``(A) means a statement of general applicability 
                and future effect that is designed to implement, 
                interpret, or prescribe law or policy or to describe 
                the procedure or practice requirements of the Council, 
                including rules, orders of general applicability, 
                interpretive releases, and other statements of general 
                applicability that the Council intends to have the 
                force and effect of law; and
                    ``(B) does not include--
                            ``(i) a regulation issued in accordance 
                        with the formal rulemaking provisions of 
                        section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States 
                        Code;
                            ``(ii) a regulation that is limited to the 
                        organization, management, or personnel matters 
                        of the Council;
                            ``(iii) a regulation promulgated pursuant 
                        to statutory authority that expressly prohibits 
                        compliance with this provision; and
                            ``(iv) a regulation that is certified by 
                        the Council to be an emergency action, if such 
                        certification is published in the Federal 
                        Register.''.
    (b) Ethics Standards.--Section 111 of the Financial Stability Act 
of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5321), as amended by subsection (a), is further 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Ethics Standards.--
            ``(1) Prohibited and restricted financial interests and 
        transactions.--The members and employees of the Council shall 
        be subject to the provisions under section 4401.102 of title 5, 
        Code of Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such 
        provisions apply to an employee of the Securities and Exchange 
        Commission.
            ``(2) Treatment of brokerage accounts and availability of 
        account statements.--The members and employees of the Council 
        shall--
                    ``(A) disclose all brokerage accounts that they 
                maintain, as well as those in which they control 
                trading or have a financial interest (including managed 
                accounts, trust accounts, investment club accounts, and 
                the accounts of spouses or minor children who live with 
                the member or employee); and
                    ``(B) with respect to any securities account that 
                the member or employee is required to disclose to the 
                Council, authorize their brokers and dealers to send 
                duplicate account statements directly to Council.
            ``(3) Prohibitions related to outside employment and 
        activities.--The members and employees of the Council shall be 
        subject to the prohibitions related to outside employment and 
        activities described under section 4401.103(c) of title 5, Code 
        of Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such prohibitions 
        apply to an employee of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
            ``(4) Additional ethics standards.--The members and 
        employees of the Council shall be subject to--
                    ``(A) the employee responsibilities and conduct 
                regulations of the Office of Personnel Management under 
                part 735 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations;
                    ``(B) the canons of ethics contained in subpart C 
                of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, 
                to the same extent as such subpart applies to the 
                employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission; 
                and
                    ``(C) the regulations concerning the conduct of 
                members and employees and former members and employees 
                contained in subpart M of part 200 of title 17, Code of 
                Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such subpart 
                applies to the employees of the Securities and Exchange 
                Commission.
    ``(m) Additional Employees Required To Make a Public Financial 
Disclosure.--For purposes of the financial disclosure requirements 
under part 2634 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, an employee of 
the Council shall be deemed a public filer if the employee is an 
attorney, accountant, examiner, auditor, investigator, or deals with 
information technology security.
    ``(n) Disclosure of Staff Salaries and Financial Information.--The 
Council shall make publicly available, on the website of the Council, a 
searchable database that contains the names of all Members and 
employees of the Council, and--
            ``(1) the yearly salary information for such individuals, 
        along with any non-salary compensation received by such 
        individuals; and
            ``(2) any financial disclosures required to be made by such 
        individuals.''.
                                 <all>