I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2043

To establish a mechanism for developing uniform United States positions 

on issues before the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision at the 

Bank for International Settlements, to require a review on the most 

recent recommendation of the Basel Committee for an accord on capital 

standards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2003

Mr. BACHUS (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. OXLEY, and Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL

To establish a mechanism for developing uniform United 

States positions on issues before the Basel Committee 

on Banking Supervision at the Bank for International 

Settlements, to require a review on the most recent recommendation of the Basel Committee for an accord on 

capital standards, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Finan5 cial Policy Committee For Fair Capital Standards Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. UNITED STATES FINANCIAL POLICY COMMITTEE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established 

3 an inter-agency committee, to be known as the ‘‘United 

4 States Financial Policy Committee’’ (hereafter in this Act 

5 referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’), which shall consist of—

6 (1) the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall 

7 serve as the Chairperson of the Committee; 

8 (2) the Chairman of the Board of Governors of 

9 the Federal Reserve System; 

10 (3) the Comptroller of the Currency; and 

11 (4) the Chairperson of the Federal Deposit In12 surance Corporation. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Committee is to 

14 develop uniform United States positions on proposals 

15 made to, and issues before, the Basel Committee on Bank16 ing Supervision that, if implemented, may directly or indi17 rectly affect United States financial institutions. 

18 (c) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet before 

19 any meeting of the Basel Committee on Banking Super20 vision and any other time the Chairperson or any member 

21 of the Committee calls for a meeting. 

22 (d) ADHERENCE TO COMMITTEE POSITION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Com24 mittee that is a participant on the Basel Committee 

25 on Banking Supervision shall adhere to the positions 
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1 of the Committee in any negotiations of the Basel 

2 Committee on Banking Supervision. 

3 (2) LACK OF UNIFORM POSITION.—If the mem4 bers of the Committee that are participants on the 

5 Basel Committee on Banking Supervision are unable 

6 to agree on a uniform position on an issue, the posi7 tion of the Secretary of the Treasury shall be deter8 minative for purposes of paragraph (1) with respect 

9 to such issue. 

10 (e) REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.—

11 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall 

13 submit an annual report to the Congress on the 

14 proceedings of the Committee during the period 

15 covered by the report. 

16 (B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report 

17 shall include—

18 (i) a brief description of issues that 

19 were addressed by the Committee; 

20 (ii) a brief description of the uniform 

21 positions developed by the Committee with 

22 respect to such issues; and 

23 (iii) in the case of any issue for which 

24 a uniform policy was not agreed to, a brief 

25 description of the positions of the parties 
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1 to the disagreement and an explanation of 

2 the reasons why the parties could not 

3 reach an agreement. 

4 (2) REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS PRIOR TO

5 AGREEMENT ON ANY BASEL ACCORD.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—No Federal banking 

7 agency (as defined in section 3(z) of the Fed8 eral Deposit Insurance Act) may agree to any 

9 proposed recommendation of the Basel Com10 mittee on Banking Supervision before the agen11 cy submits a report on the proposed rec12 ommendation to the Congress. 

13 (B) CONSULTATIONS.—The head of any 

14 Federal banking agency that submits a report 

15 to the Congress under subparagraph (A) shall 

16 consult with the Congress concerning the pro17 posal. 

18 (3) EVALUATION OF NEW BASEL CAPITAL AC19 CORD BEFORE REPORT.—Before submitting a report 

20 to the Congress under paragraph (2) with respect to 

21 the New Basel Capital Accord, as revised through 

22 the Third Consultative Paper published on April 29, 

23 2003, or any subsequent revisions or final agree24 ment, the Federal banking agencies (as defined in 

25 section 3(z) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act), 
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1 in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 

2 shall evaluate the impact of the revised Capital Ac3 cord, taking into account the following factors, and 

4 shall include such evaluation in the report: 

5 (A) The cost and complexity of the pro6 posal. 

7 (B) The impact of the proposal on small, 

8 medium, and large financial institutions. 

9 (C) The impact of the proposal on real es10 tate markets. 

11 (D) The effect of an operational risk cap12 ital standard on the resilience of the Nation’s 

13 financial system and competition. 

14 (E) The impact of the proposal on com15 petition between banks and other financial in16 stitutions. 

17 (F) The need for additional training for 

18 supervision and examination personnel. 

19 (G) Any comments filed by the public after 

20 notice and an opportunity to comment for a pe21 riod of not less than 60 days. 

22 (H) The relative impact of compliance by 

23 domestic banks. 

24 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Each 

25 agency represented on the Committee shall provide such 
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1 administrative support services as may be necessary for 

2 the Committee to carry out its responsibilities under this 

3 Act.

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