12 U.S.C. § 5710: Oversight and audits

Summary

The Treasury Inspector General must run, oversee, and coordinate audits and investigations into how Program funds are spent. Any bank or similar financial institution (as defined in law) that gets a loan, loan guarantee, or other help using Program funds after March 11, 2021 must certify it follows 31 C.F.R. 103.121, which requires reasonable identity checks, recordkeeping, and screening against government terrorist lists. Any private entity that gets such help after March 11, 2021 must certify its principals have not been convicted of a sex offense against a minor (see section 20911 of title 34). No Program funds can pay the salary of someone working on the Program who was officially disciplined for violations of subpart G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch for viewing, downloading, or sharing pornography, including child pornography, on a federal computer or while on duty.

Title 12, §5710

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(a)Inspector General oversight

The Inspector General of the Department of the Treasury shall conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the use of funds made available under the Program.

(b)Required certification

(1)Financial institutions certification

With respect to funds received by a participating State under the Program, any financial institution that receives a loan, a loan guarantee, or other financial assistance using such funds after March 11, 2021, shall certify that such institution is in compliance with the requirements of section 103.121 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, a regulation that, at a minimum, requires financial institutions, as that term is defined in section 5312(a)(2) and (c)(1)(A) of title 31, to implement reasonable procedures to verify the identity of any person seeking to open an account, to the extent reasonable and practicable, maintain records of the information used to verify the person’s identity, and determine whether the person appears on any lists of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations provided to the financial institution by any government agency.

(2)Sex offense certification

With respect to funds received by a participating State under the Program, any private entity that receives a loan, a loan guarantee, or other financial assistance using such funds after March 11, 2021, shall certify to the participating State that the principals of such entity have not been convicted of a sex offense against a minor (as such terms are defined in section 20911 of title 34).

(c)Prohibition on pornography

None of the funds made available under this chapter may be used to pay the salary of any individual engaged in activities related to the Program who has been officially disciplined for violations of subpart G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch for viewing, downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child pornography, on a Federal Government computer or while performing official Federal Government duties.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2021—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 117–2 substituted “

March 11, 2021” for “

September 27, 2010” in pars. (1) and (2). 2014—Subsecs. (b) to (d). Pub. L. 113–188 redesignated subsecs. (c) and (d) as (b) and (c), respectively, and struck out former subsec. (b). Prior to amendment, text of subsec. (b) read as follows: “The Comptroller General of the United States shall perform an annual audit of the Program and issue a report to the appropriate committees of Congress containing the results of such audit.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2021 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 117–2 applicable with respect to funds appropriated under section 3301 of Pub. L. 117–2 and funds appropriated on and after Mar. 11, 2021, see section 3301(g) of Pub. L. 117–2, set out as a note under section 5701 of this title.

§5710 Oversight and Audits