Congress Calls into Question FSB's Role in SIFI Designation
Congress has once again raised concerns about the Fed's plans for non-bank SIFIS. In a May 9, 2014 letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Fed Chair Yellen, and SEC Chair Mary Jo White, members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services questioned the role of the Financial Stability Board, an international body which is an unincorporated Swiss association with no authority or oversight under US law, in the process for designation of G-SIFIs. The authors of letter are generally concerned “about decisions being made that could have a significant impact on the U.S. economy and its citizens through a nontransparent process, by an international body that is not accountable to the American people.”