Financial Stability Oversight Council

Purpose and duties

At minimum, it must meet quarterly.

Specifically, there are three purposes assigned to the Council:

1. identify the risks to the financial stability of the United States from both financial and non-financial organizations
2. promote market discipline, by eliminating expectations that the Government will shield them from losses in the event of failure
3. respond to emerging threats to the stability of the US financial system

Activities

On July 26, 2011, the First Annual Financial Stability Oversight Council Report was issued by the Council fulfilling the Congressional mandate to report on the activities of the Council. The Report is intended to describe significant financial market and regulatory developments, analyze potential emerging threats, and make certain recommendations. The July 26, 2011 report warned that the United States faces potential losses connected with the European debt crisis.

In September 2014, a group of Republican lawmakers accused U.S. regulators of "disparate treatment" of nonbank financial firms currently considered for tougher oversight. The lawmakers stated that the regulators should condust same level of analysis and due diligence for the insurance industry as it has for the asset management industry before formally considering whether to designate another insurance company.

After much anticipation and debate about whether FSOC would and should designate individual asset managers (a nonbank financial firm) as systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) which would subject them to greater oversight, FSOC announced in August, 2014, that rather than designating individual asset managers as SIFIs, it would focus on examining systemic risk posed by asset managers’ products, and activities. As a result of FSOC's announcement the Securities and Exchange Commission is now expected and assumed to take a prudential supervisory role of individual asset managers, in addition to exercising its traditional mandate of investor protection.

Since the inception of FSOC, the Council has designated select financial market utilities (FMUs) as “systemically important.” The designation of systemically important subjects the FMU to enhanced regulatory oversight. The three supervisory agencies charged with regulating systemically important FMUs are: the Federal Reserve Board, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Authority

The Council has very broad powers to monitor, investigate and assess any risks to the US financial system. The Council has the authority to collect information from any state or federal financial regulatory agency, and may direct the Office of Financial Research, which supports the work of the Council, "to collect information from bank holding companies and nonbank financial companies". The Council monitors domestic and international regulatory proposals, including insurance and accounting issues, and advises Congress and the Federal Reserve on ways to enhance the integrity, efficiency, competitiveness and stability of the US financial markets. On a regular basis, the Council is required to make a report to Congress describing the state of the U.S. financial system. Each voting member of the Council is required to either affirm that the federal government is taking all reasonable steps to assure financial stability and mitigate systemic risk, or describe additional steps that need to be taken. Under specific circumstances, the Chairman of the Council (who is also the Secretary of the Treasury), with the concurrence of 2/3 voting members, may place nonbank financial companies or domestic subsidiaries of international banks under the supervision of the Federal Reserve if it appears that these companies could pose a threat to the financial stability of the US. The Federal Reserve may promulgate safe harbor regulations to exempt certain types of foreign banks from regulation, with approval of the Council. Under certain circumstances, the Council may provide for more stringent regulation of a financial activity by issuing recommendations to the primary financial regulatory agency, which the primary financial agency is obliged to implement – the Council reports to Congress on the implementation or failure to implement such recommendations.

Financial reporting to the Council

The Council may require any bank or non-bank financial institution with assets over $50 billion to submit certified reports as to the company's:

The Comptroller General of the United States may audit the Council or anyone working for the Council, and may have access to any information under the control of or used by the Council.

Voting Members

The Financial Stability Oversight Council has ten voting members:

1. Secretary of the Treasury (chairs the Council)
2. Chairman of the Federal Reserve
3. Comptroller of the Currency
4. Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
5. Chairperson of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
6. Chairperson of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
7. Chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
8. Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency
9. the Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration Board
10. an independent member (with insurance expertise), appointed by the President

Non-voting Members

There are five non-voting members:

1. Director of the Office of Financial Research (an independent agency within the Treasury Department and established by the Dodd-Frank Act): Richard Berner
2. Director of the Federal Insurance Office (part of the Treasury Department and established in this Act): Michael T. McRaith
3. a state insurance commissioner, to be designated by a selection process determined by the state insurance commissioners (2-year term): Adam Hamm, Commissioner of the North Dakota Insurance Department, is the NAIC delegate to the FSOC.
4. a state banking supervisor, to be designated by a selection process determined by the state banking supervisors (2-year term): John P. Ducrest, Commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions
5. a state securities commissioner (or officer performing like function) to be designated by a selection process determined by such state security commissioners (2-year term): David Massey, North Carolina Securities Division Director & Deputy Securities Administrator

Other names

There is a possibility of name confusion as recent news articles have referred to this entity as the U.S. Financial Risk Council.