[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2335 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2335
To establish within the Department of the Treasury the Office of the
Special Inspector General for Financial Regulatory Abuses and
Misconduct, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 18, 2023
Mr. Vance (for himself, Ms. Lummis, and Mr. Marshall) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish within the Department of the Treasury the Office of the
Special Inspector General for Financial Regulatory Abuses and
Misconduct, 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 ``Financial Regulatory Accountability
Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR FINANCIAL REGULATORY ABUSES AND
MISCONDUCT.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate;
(B) the Subcommittee on Financial Services and
General Government of the Committee on Appropriations
of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on Financial Services of the
House of Representatives; and
(D) the Subcommittee on Financial Services and
General Government of the Committee on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives.
(2) Covered agencies.--The term ``covered agencies''
means--
(A) the Securities and Exchange Commission;
(B) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System;
(C) the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency;
(D) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation;
(E) the Commodity Futures Trading Commission;
(F) the Federal Housing Finance Agency;
(G) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection;
and
(H) the National Credit Union Administration.
(b) Office of Inspector General.--There is hereby established
within the Department of the Treasury the Office of the Special
Inspector General for Financial Regulatory Abuses and Misconduct.
(c) Appointment of Inspector General; Removal; Basic Pay.--
(1) In general.--The head of the Office of the Special
Inspector General for Financial Regulatory Abuses and
Misconduct shall be the Special Inspector General for Financial
Regulatory Abuses and Misconduct (referred to in this section
as the ``Special Inspector General''), who shall be appointed
by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate.
(2) Nomination.--The nomination of the Special Inspector
General shall be made on the basis of integrity and
demonstrated familiarity with the financial sector and
industry, in addition to an ability in accounting, auditing,
financial analysis, law, management analysis, securities
regulation, prudential banking regulation, derivatives
regulation, public administration, or investigations.
(3) Removal.--The Special Inspector General shall be
removable from office in accordance with the provisions of
section 403(b) of title 5, United States Code.
(4) Basic pay.--The annual rate of basic pay of the Special
Inspector General shall be the annual rate of basic pay for an
Inspector General under section 403(e) of title 5, United
States Code.
(d) Duties.--
(1) In general.--It shall be the duty of the Special
Inspector General to, in accordance with section 404(b)(1) of
title 5, United States Code--
(A) receive, review, and investigate allegations
from entities regulated by the covered agencies
regarding supervisory, regulatory, and examination
abuses and misconduct at any of the covered agencies
with respect to the industry overseen by the applicable
covered agency, including any ideological bias
demonstrated by the covered agency or any employee of
the covered agency; and
(B) make recommendations to the applicable covered
agency and to the appropriate committees of Congress
regarding--
(i) measures that the covered agency should
take to remedy any abuses or misconduct
described in subparagraph (A); and
(ii) any employee of the covered agency
that the Special Inspector General determines,
after a review or investigation described in
subparagraph (A), should face disciplinary
action (including removal) as a result of
abuses or misconduct described in that
subparagraph.
(2) Maintenance of systems.--The Special Inspector General
shall establish, maintain, and oversee such systems,
procedures, and controls as the Special Inspector General
considers appropriate to discharge the duties of the Special
Inspector General under paragraph (1).
(3) Additional duties and responsibilities.--In addition to
the duties described in paragraphs (1) and (2), the Special
Inspector General shall also have the duties and
responsibilities of inspectors general under chapter 4 of title
5, United States Code.
(4) Confidentiality of information.--The Special Inspector
General shall maintain the confidentiality of the identity of
any person, employing entity, or regulated entity submitting
information to the Special Inspector General for the purposes
of carrying out the duties of the Special Inspector General
under this section, including in any report submitted under
subsection (g).
(e) Powers and Authorities.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out the duties of the Special
Inspector General under subsection (d), the Special Inspector
General shall have the authorities provided in section 406 of
title 5, United States Code.
(2) Treatment of office.--The Office of the Special
Inspector General shall be considered to be an office described
in section 406(f)(3) of title 5, United States Code, and shall
be exempt from an initial determination by the Attorney General
under section 406(f)(2) of that title.
(f) Personnel, Facilities, and Other Resources.--
(1) Appointment of officers and employees.--
(A) In general.--The Special Inspector General may
select, appoint, and employ such officers and employees
as may be necessary for carrying out the duties of the
Special Inspector General.
(B) Status.--The positions to which officers and
employees are appointed under subparagraph (A) shall be
positions in schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of
title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor
regulations.
(2) Experts and consultants.--The Special Inspector General
may obtain services as authorized under section 3109 of title
5, United States Code, at daily rates not to exceed the
equivalent rate prescribed for grade GS-15 of the General
Schedule by section 5332 of that title.
(3) Contracts.--The Special Inspector General may enter
into contracts and other arrangements for audits, studies,
analyses, and other services with public agencies and with
private persons, and make such payments as may be necessary to
carry out the duties of the Special Inspector General.
(4) Requests for information.--
(A) In general.--Upon request of the Special
Inspector General for information or assistance from
any department, agency, or other entity of the Federal
Government, including from any covered agency, the head
of that department, agency, or entity shall, to the
extent practicable and not in contravention of any
existing law, furnish that information or assistance to
the Special Inspector General, or an authorized
designee.
(B) Refusal to provide requested information.--
Whenever information or assistance requested by the
Special Inspector General is, in the judgment of the
Special Inspector General, unreasonably refused or not
provided, the Special Inspector General shall report
the circumstances to the appropriate committees of
Congress without delay.
(C) Congressional access.--The Special Inspector
General may provide any record or other piece of
information obtained under this paragraph to the
appropriate committees of Congress.
(g) Reports.--
(1) Quarterly reports.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the
date on which the Special Inspector General is
confirmed, and once every calendar quarter thereafter,
the Special Inspector General shall submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report summarizing
the activities of the Special Inspector General during
the 3-month period ending on the date on which the
Special Inspector General submits the report.
(B) Contents.--Each report submitted under
subparagraph (A) shall include, for the period covered
by the report, the following:
(i) A general description of the
allegations received and reviewed by the
Special Inspector General under subsection
(d)(1)(A).
(ii) Recommendations of the Special
Inspector General regarding reforms that the
Special Inspector General believes should be
undertaken with respect to the authority of the
Special Inspector General and matters within
the authority of the Special Inspector General
to review and investigate, including the
authority described in subsection (d)(1)(B).
(iii) For a covered agency with respect to
which an allegation submitted under this
section applies, the steps that the covered
agency has taken, and has yet to take, to
remedy the issues outlined in the allegation.
(iv) Data regarding the number of
allegations received and reviewed by the
Special Inspector General under this section
that document legitimate acts of abuse or
misconduct, as determined by the Special
Inspector General, which shall--
(I) be disaggregated by the number
of acts of abuse or misconduct
committed by each covered agency; and
(II) contain a separate provision
listing the number of those acts that
relate to ideological bias, which shall
be disaggregated as described in
subclause (I).
(v) Commentary by the Special Inspector
General regarding the level of cooperation by
each covered agency with respect to reviews and
investigations performed by the Special
Inspector General, including, with respect to
each covered agency, whether the covered agency
has implemented recommendations made by the
Special Inspector General and whether the
covered agency has provided information or
access requested by the Special Inspector
General.
(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection may
be construed to authorize the public disclosure of information
that is--
(A) specifically prohibited from disclosure by any
other provision of law;
(B) specifically required by Executive order to be
protected from disclosure in the interest of national
defense or national security or in the conduct of
foreign affairs; or
(C) a part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
(h) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000
to carry out this section, which shall remain available until expended.
(i) Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and
Efficiency.--The Special Inspector General shall be a member of the
Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency
established under section 424 of title 5, United States Code.
(j) Corrective Responses to Audit Problems.--A covered agency
shall--
(1) take action to address deficiencies identified by a
report or investigation of the Special Inspector General; or
(2) with respect to a deficiency identified under paragraph
(1), certify to the appropriate committees of Congress that no
action is necessary or appropriate.
(k) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed
as limiting the authority of the Inspector General of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Inspector General of the Federal
Housing Finance Agency, or the Inspector General of the National Credit
Union Administration.
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON REGULATORY AUTHORITY.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered action.--The term ``covered action'' means--
(A) the initiation by a covered agency of an
enforcement action, including the issuance of a cease
and desist order; or
(B) the issuance by a covered agency of a matter
requiring attention, a matter requiring immediate
attention, or a matter requiring board attention with
respect to a supervisory activity conducted by the
covered agency.
(2) Covered agencies.--The term ``covered agencies'' has
the meaning given the term in section 2(a).
(b) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law or
regulation, no covered agency may take any covered action against an
entity supervised by the covered agency, or require such an entity to
take any action, based on considerations of reputational risk.
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