12 U.S.C. § 5343: Purpose and duties of the…

Summary

Creates an office to help the Council and its member agencies by collecting and sharing data, setting common data types and formats, doing applied and long-term research, building tools to measure and watch risk, and offering other related services. The office can make its results available to financial regulators and help those agencies decide what data to collect. It may share data and software with the Council, member agencies, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, but must keep that information at least as secure as it is kept in the office and cannot give it to others without the Council’s permission. The office can run research projects and, if asked and paid for, help other federal agencies with financial analysis. The office may write rules only as needed to collect data, standardize data, and help agencies choose data types and formats. Member agencies should adopt those rules; if an agency does not do so within 3 years, the office may apply the rules to the firms under that agency’s authority. The Director must report and testify once a year to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services about the office’s work and any threats to financial stability. No other government officer or agency can require prior review of that testimony, and the Director must say the views are the Director’s and not necessarily the President’s. The Director may send extra reports to Congress and must tell the Council when doing so. The Director can subpoena data from financial firms when a written finding shows the data are needed and the office has coordinated with the firm’s primary regulator; subpoenas must be signed by the Director and can be enforced in federal court, with disobedience punishable as contempt.

Title 12, §5343

Banks and Banking, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Purpose and duties

The purpose of the Office is to support the Council in fulfilling the purposes and duties of the Council, as set forth in part A, and to support member agencies, by—

(1)collecting data on behalf of the Council, and providing such data to the Council and member agencies;

(2)standardizing the types and formats of data reported and collected;

(3)performing applied research and essential long-term research;

(4)developing tools for risk measurement and monitoring;

(5)performing other related services;

(6)making the results of the activities of the Office available to financial regulatory agencies; and

(7)assisting such member agencies in determining the types and formats of data authorized by this Act to be collected by such member agencies.

(b)Administrative authority

The Office may—

(1)share data and information, including software developed by the Office, with the Council, member agencies, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which shared data, information, and software—

(A)shall be maintained with at least the same level of security as is used by the Office; and

(B)may not be shared with any individual or entity without the permission of the Council;

(2)sponsor and conduct research projects; and

(3)assist, on a reimbursable basis, with financial analyses undertaken at the request of other Federal agencies that are not member agencies.

(c)Rulemaking authority

(1)Scope

The Office, in consultation with the Chairperson, shall issue rules, regulations, and orders only to the extent necessary to carry out the purposes and duties described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (7) of subsection (a).

(2)Standardization

Member agencies, in consultation with the Office, shall implement regulations promulgated by the Office under paragraph (1) to standardize the types and formats of data reported and collected on behalf of the Council, as described in subsection (a)(2). If a member agency fails to implement such regulations prior to the expiration of the 3-year period following the date of publication of final regulations, the Office, in consultation with the Chairperson, may implement such regulations with respect to the financial entities under the jurisdiction of the member agency. This paragraph shall not supersede or interfere with the independent authority of a member agency under other law to collect data, in such format and manner as the member agency requires.

(d)Testimony

(1)In general

The Director of the Office shall report to and testify before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives annually on the activities of the Office, including the work of the Data Center and the Research and Analysis Center, and the assessment of the Office of significant financial market developments and potential emerging threats to the financial stability of the United States.

(2)No prior review

No officer or agency of the United States shall have any authority to require the Director to submit the testimony required under paragraph (1) or other congressional testimony to any officer or agency of the United States for approval, comment, or review prior to the submission of such testimony. Any such testimony to Congress shall include a statement that the views expressed therein are those of the Director and do not necessarily represent the views of the President.

(e)Additional reports

The Director may provide additional reports to Congress concerning the financial stability of the United States. The Director shall notify the Council of any such additional reports provided to Congress.

(f)Subpoena

(1)In general

The Director may require from a financial company, by subpoena, the production of the data requested under subsection (a)(1) and section 5344(b)(1) of this title, but only upon a written finding by the Director that—

(A)such data is required to carry out the functions described under this part; and

(B)the Office has coordinated with the relevant primary financial regulatory agency, as required under section 5344(b)(1)(B)(ii) of this title.

(2)Format

Subpoenas under paragraph (1) shall bear the signature of the Director, and shall be served by any person or class of persons designated by the Director for that purpose.

(3)Enforcement

In the case of contumacy or failure to obey a subpoena, the subpoena shall be enforceable by order of any appropriate district court of the United States. Any failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt of court.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (a)(7), is Pub. L. 111–203, July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1376, known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which enacted this chapter and chapters 108 (§ 8201 et seq.) and 109 (§ 8301 et seq.) of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, and enacted, amended, and repealed numerous other sections and notes in the Code. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 5301 of this title and Tables.

§5343 Purpose and Duties of the Office