Title 12Banks and BankingRelease 119-73

§5452 Office of Minority and Women Inclusion

Title 12 › Chapter CHAPTER 53— - WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - TRANSFER OF POWERS TO THE COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, THE CORPORATION, AND THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS › Part Part C— - Other Matters › § 5452

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Each covered agency must create an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion to handle diversity in who runs the agency, who works there, and which businesses the agency uses. Agencies had to do this within 6 months after July 21, 2010, except the Bureau must do it within 6 months after its designated transfer date. If another office already handled these duties the day before July 21, 2010, those duties must move to the new Office. The Office’s Director is picked by and reports to the agency head and must be a career Senior Executive Service position or equivalent. The Director must set standards and rules to promote equal hiring, boost participation by minority-owned and women-owned businesses in agency contracts, check the diversity practices of entities the agency regulates, and advise the agency head about how agency rules affect those businesses. The Office must create procedures so contractors and subcontractors include minorities and women in their workforces and must have a way to find and act when a contractor fails to try in good faith; the Office can recommend contract termination or other actions, including referral to the Department of Labor. Each Office must send Congress one annual report with total contractor payments since the last report, the share paid to contractors covered by the inclusion rules, successes and problems in outreach, hiring and contracting challenges, and any other items the Director chooses. Agencies must take lawful steps to recruit diverse workers, for example at HBCUs, Hispanic-serving and women’s colleges, urban job fairs, minority-focused media, internship partnerships, and city high schools for mentoring and financial literacy. Definitions: “agency” names the specific financial agencies listed in the law; “agency administrator” means the agency head; “minority,” “minority-owned business,” and “women-owned business” use the meanings given in the other cited laws; “Office” means the new Office of Minority and Women Inclusion.

Full Legal Text

Title 12, §5452

Banks and Banking — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), not later than 6 months after July 21, 2010, each agency shall establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion that shall be responsible for all matters of the agency relating to diversity in management, employment, and business activities.
(B)The Bureau shall establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion not later than 6 months after the designated transfer date established under section 5582 of this title.
(2)Each agency that, on the day before July 21, 2010, assigned the responsibilities described in paragraph (1) (or comparable responsibilities) to another office of the agency shall ensure that such responsibilities are transferred to the Office.
(3)The responsibilities described in paragraph (1) do not include enforcement of statutes, regulations, or executive orders pertaining to civil rights, except each Director shall coordinate with the agency administrator, or the designee of the agency administrator, regarding the design and implementation of any remedies resulting from violations of such statutes, regulations, or executive orders.
(b)(1)The Director of each Office shall be appointed by, and shall report to, the agency administrator. The position of Director shall be a career reserved position in the Senior Executive Service, as that position is defined in section 3132 of title 5, or an equivalent designation.
(2)Each Director shall develop standards for—
(A)equal employment opportunity and the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the workforce and senior management of the agency;
(B)increased participation of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the programs and contracts of the agency, including standards for coordinating technical assistance to such businesses; and
(C)assessing the diversity policies and practices of entities regulated by the agency.
(3)Each Director shall advise the agency administrator on the impact of the policies and regulations of the agency on minority-owned and women-owned businesses.
(4)Nothing in paragraph (2)(C) may be construed to mandate any requirement on or otherwise affect the lending policies and practices of any regulated entity, or to require any specific action based on the findings of the assessment.
(c)(1)The Director of each Office shall develop and implement standards and procedures to ensure, to the maximum extent possible, the fair inclusion and utilization of minorities, women, and minority-owned and women-owned businesses in all business and activities of the agency at all levels, including in procurement, insurance, and all types of contracts.
(2)The procedures established by each agency for review and evaluation of contract proposals and for hiring service providers shall include, to the extent consistent with applicable law, a component that gives consideration to the diversity of the applicant. Such procedure shall include a written statement, in a form and with such content as the Director shall prescribe, that a contractor shall ensure, to the maximum extent possible, the fair inclusion of women and minorities in the workforce of the contractor and, as applicable, subcontractors.
(3)(A)The standards and procedures developed and implemented under this subsection shall include a procedure for the Director to make a determination whether an agency contractor, and, as applicable, a subcontractor has failed to make a good faith effort to include minorities and women in their workforce.
(B)(i)Upon a determination described in subparagraph (A), the Director shall make a recommendation to the agency administrator that the contract be terminated.
(ii)Upon receipt of a recommendation under clause (i), the agency administrator may—
(I)terminate the contract;
(II)make a referral to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs of the Department of Labor; or
(III)take other appropriate action.
(d)This section shall apply to all contracts of an agency for services of any kind, including the services of financial institutions, investment banking firms, mortgage banking firms, asset management firms, brokers, dealers, financial services entities, underwriters, accountants, investment consultants, and providers of legal services. The contracts referred to in this subsection include all contracts for all business and activities of an agency, at all levels, including contracts for the issuance or guarantee of any debt, equity, or security, the sale of assets, the management of the assets of the agency, the making of equity investments by the agency, and the implementation by the agency of programs to address economic recovery.
(e)Each Office shall submit to Congress an annual report regarding the actions taken by the agency and the Office pursuant to this section, which shall include—
(1)a statement of the total amounts paid by the agency to contractors since the previous report;
(2)the percentage of the amounts described in paragraph (1) that were paid to contractors described in subsection (c)(1);
(3)the successes achieved and challenges faced by the agency in operating minority and women outreach programs;
(4)the challenges the agency may face in hiring qualified minority and women employees and contracting with qualified minority-owned and women-owned businesses; and
(5)any other information, findings, conclusions, and recommendations for legislative or agency action, as the Director determines appropriate.
(f)Each agency shall take affirmative steps to seek diversity in the workforce of the agency at all levels of the agency in a manner consistent with applicable law. Such steps shall include—
(1)recruiting at historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, women’s colleges, and colleges that typically serve majority minority populations;
(2)sponsoring and recruiting at job fairs in urban communities;
(3)placing employment advertisements in newspapers and magazines oriented toward minorities and women;
(4)partnering with organizations that are focused on developing opportunities for minorities and women to place talented young minorities and women in industry internships, summer employment, and full-time positions;
(5)where feasible, partnering with inner-city high schools, girls’ high schools, and high schools with majority minority populations to establish or enhance financial literacy programs and provide mentoring; and
(6)any other mass media communications that the Office determines necessary.
(g)For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)The term “agency” means—
(A)the Departmental Offices of the Department of the Treasury;
(B)the Corporation;
(C)the Federal Housing Finance Agency;
(D)each of the Federal reserve banks;
(E)the Board;
(F)the National Credit Union Administration;
(G)the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency;
(H)the Commission; and
(I)the Bureau.
(2)The term “agency administrator” means the head of an agency.
(3)The term “minority” has the same meaning as in section 1204(c) of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 1811 note).
(4)The term “minority-owned business” has the same meaning as in section 1441a(r)(4)(A) of this title, as in effect on the day before the transfer date.
(5)The term “Office” means the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion established by an agency under subsection (a).
(6)The term “women-owned business” has the meaning given the term “women’s business” in section 1441a(r)(4)(B) of this title, as in effect on the day before the transfer date.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 1204(c) of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and

Enforcement

Act of 1989, referred to in subsec. (g)(3), is section 1204(c) of Pub. L. 101–73, which is set out as a note under section 1811 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective 1 day after July 21, 2010, except as otherwise provided, see section 4 of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as a note under section 5301 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

12 U.S.C. § 5452

Title 12Banks and Banking

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73