I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 924 

To amend the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 

1978 to establish a three-judge independent examination review panel. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2017 

Mr. ROTHFUS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Financial Institutions Examination 

Council Act of 1978 to establish a three-judge independent examination review panel. 

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 ‘‘Financial Institutions 

5 Due Process Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TIMELINESS OF EXAMINATION REPORTS. 

7 The Federal Financial Institutions Examination 

8 Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.) is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1012. TIMELINESS OF EXAMINATION REPORTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

3 ‘‘(1) FINAL EXAMINATION REPORT.—A Federal 

4 financial institutions regulatory agency shall provide 

5 a final examination report to a financial institution 

6 not later than 60 days after the later of— 

7 ‘‘(A) the exit interview for an examination 

8 of the institution; or 

9 ‘‘(B) the provision of additional informa10 tion by the institution relating to the examina11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXIT INTERVIEW.—With respect to an ex13 amination of a financial institution by a Federal fi14 nancial institutions regulatory agency, if the finan15 cial institution is not subject to a resident examiner 

16 program, the exit interview for such examination 

17 shall occur not later than the end of the 9-month pe18 riod beginning on the commencement of the exam19 ination, except that such period may be extended by 

20 the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency 

21 by providing written notice to the financial institu22 tion describing with particularity the reasons that a 

23 longer period is needed. 

24 ‘‘(b) EXAMINATION MATERIALS.—Upon the request 

25 of a financial institution, the Federal financial institutions 

26 regulatory agency shall include with a final examination 


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1 report an appendix listing all examination or other factual 

2 information relied upon by the agency in support of a ma3 terial supervisory determination.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION REVIEW PANEL. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Financial Institu6 tions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 

7 et seq.), as amended by section 2, is further amended by 

8 adding at the end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 1013. INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION REVIEW PANEL. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

12 the executive branch the Independent Examination 

13 Review Panel (in this section referred to as the 

14 ‘Panel’). 

15 ‘‘(2) JUDGES.—The Panel shall consist of three 

16 judges, appointed as follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) One judge appointed by the Council 

18 with extensive financial institutions regulatory 

19 agency experience. 

20 ‘‘(B) One judge appointed by the Securi21 ties and Exchange Commission with legal and 

22 public accounting experience. 

23 ‘‘(C) One judge appointed by the Council, 

24 selected from candidates with private sector 

25 senior management-level experience with legal 


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1 or public accounting background and rec2 ommended to the Council by a financial institu3 tion or a financial institution trade association. 

4 ‘‘(3) TERMS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each judge appointed 

6 to the Panel shall serve for a term of 3 years, 

7 except as provided in subparagraph (B). No 

8 judge may be appointed to serve more than 2 

9 terms. 

10 ‘‘(B) TERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES.—Of 

11 the judges first appointed to the Panel— 

12 ‘‘(i) the judge appointed pursuant to 

13 paragraph (2)(A) shall be appointed for a 

14 term of 1 year; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the judge appointed pursuant to 

16 paragraph (2)(B) shall be appointed for a 

17 term of 2 years; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the judge appointed pursuant to 

19 paragraph (2)(C) shall be appointed for a 

20 term of 3 years. 

21 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINTMENT.—An 

22 individual appointed under subparagraph (B) or (C) 

23 of paragraph (2) shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) be a licensed attorney and a certified 

25 public accountant authorized to practice under 


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1 the laws of a State, the District of Columbia, 

2 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other 

3 territory or possession of the United States; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) have relevant subject matter edu6 cation and work-related experience, including 

7 working knowledge of generally accepted ac8 counting principles, as determined by the entity 

9 making the appointment. 

10 ‘‘(b) JURISDICTION.—The Panel shall have exclusive 

11 jurisdiction of an appeal of a final material supervisory 

12 determination of a Federal financial institutions regu13 latory agency. The Panel shall determine the merits of the 

14 appeal, after an opportunity for a hearing on the record. 

15 ‘‘(c) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—In an appeal heard by 

16 the Panel under this section, the Panel may not defer to 

17 the opinions of an examiner or a Federal financial institu18 tions regulatory agency, but shall independently determine 

19 the appropriateness of the Federal financial institutions 

20 regulatory agency’s decision based upon the relevant stat21 utes, regulations, judicial precedents, and previous deci22 sions of the Panel. 

23 ‘‘(d) NOTICE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A financial institution seek25 ing an appeal under this section shall file a written 


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1 notice with the Panel within 30 days after receiving 

2 the final material supervisory determination from 

3 the agency, or within 270 days after receiving the 

4 final examination report, whichever occurs first. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF NOTICE.—The written no6 tice shall identify the final material supervisory de7 termination that is the subject of the appeal and a 

8 statement of the reasons why the financial institu9 tion believes such determination should be modified. 

10 ‘‘(e) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED TO INSTITU11 TION PRIOR TO HEARING BEFORE THE PANEL.—Any in12 formation relied upon by a Federal financial institutions 

13 regulatory agency in a final examination report that is not 

14 in the possession of a financial institution requesting an 

15 appeal under this section may be requested by the finan16 cial institution and, if requested, shall be delivered 

17 promptly by the agency to the financial institution. 

18 ‘‘(f) HEARING.—If a financial institution requests a 

19 hearing before the Panel in connection with an appeal by 

20 the financial institution under this section, the hearing 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) take place not later than 60 days after the 

23 date on which the notice of the appeal was received 

24 by the Panel; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) be conducted pursuant to the procedures 

2 set forth under sections 556 and 557 of title 5, 

3 United States Code. 

4 ‘‘(g) DECISION.—A decision by the Panel on an ap5 peal under this section shall be made not later than— 

6 ‘‘(1) 60 days after the date on which the notice 

7 of appeal is filed with the Panel; or 

8 ‘‘(2) 30 days after the date on which a hearing 

9 under subsection (f) has concluded, if a hearing is 

10 requested by the financial institution. 

11 ‘‘(h) RIGHT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A financial insti12 tution and the Federal financial institution regulatory 

13 agency that made the material supervisory determination 

14 appealed under this section shall have the right to petition 

15 for review of the decision of the Panel under this section 

16 by filing a petition for review not later than 60 days after 

17 the date on which the decision was made in the United 

18 States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir19 cuit or the circuit in which the financial institution is lo20 cated. 

21 ‘‘(i) REPORTS AND PUBLICATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.—The Panel shall, within 90 

23 days of the end of each calendar year, report final 

24 decisions made under subsection (g) during such cal25 endar year to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 


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1 and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

2 on Financial Services of the House of Representa3 tives. Such reports may not contain confidential or 

4 privileged information shared by financial institu5 tions. 

6 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Any report submitted 

7 under paragraph (1) shall be made available on the 

8 Council’s website in such a manner that such re9 ports may serve as precedent for future disputes. 

10 ‘‘(j) EXPENSES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The reasonable costs and 

12 expenses incurred by the Panel shall be paid by the 

13 Council. 

14 ‘‘(2) SALARIES.—Compensation for the judges 

15 appointed to the Panel under this section shall be 

16 determined by the Council and based upon the fair 

17 market value of the level of service and time pro18 vided considering the training, knowledge, and expe19 rience needed to properly and professionally carry 

20 out the duties required. 

21 ‘‘(k) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—A Federal finan22 cial institutions regulatory agency may not— 

23 ‘‘(1) retaliate against a financial institution, in24 cluding service providers, or any institution-affiliated 


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1 party, for exercising appellate rights under this sec2 tion; or 

3 ‘‘(2) delay or deny any agency action that 

4 would benefit a financial institution or any institu5 tion-affiliated party on the basis that an appeal 

6 under this section is pending under this section.’’. 

7 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 1003 of the Federal Fi8 nancial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 

9 U.S.C. 3302) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

11 (2) in paragraph (3), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

12 end; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(4) the term ‘material supervisory determina16 tions’ has the meaning given such term in section 

17 309(f) of the Riegle Community Development and 

18 Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 

19 4806(f)).’’. 

20 SEC. 4. TIMELINESS OF REQUIRED PERMISSION, REGU21 LATORY, AND REPORTING GUIDANCE. 

22 The Federal Financial Institutions Examination 

23 Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), as amended 

24 by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the 

25 following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1014. TIMELINESS OF REQUIRED PERMISSION, REGU2 LATORY, AND REPORTING GUIDANCE. 

3 ‘‘(a) REQUEST FOR PERMISSION OR GUIDANCE.—A 

4 financial institution may request a written determination 

5 by a Federal financial institutions regulatory agency of— 

6 ‘‘(1) the agency’s permission to take an action 

7 where permission is mandated by regulation; 

8 ‘‘(2) the agency’s interpretation of a law or reg9 ulation; and 

10 ‘‘(3) the agency’s interpretation of generally ac11 cepted accounting principals or accounting objec12 tives, standards, and requirements under section 37 

13 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. 

14 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF REQUEST.—A request made 

15 under subsection (a) shall be in writing and contain all 

16 the information needed to communicate to the Federal fi17 nancial institutions regulatory agency the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) The nature of the request. 

19 ‘‘(2) Applicable facts relating to the matter. 

20 ‘‘(3) Applicable law, regulation, or generally ac21 cepted accounting principals relating to the matter. 

22 ‘‘(4) Discussion relative to the nature of the re23 quest summarizing the financial institution’s posi24 tion or summary of the request. 


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1 ‘‘(c) RESPONSE TO REQUEST.—A Federal financial 

2 institutions regulatory agency receiving a request under 

3 subsection (a) shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) within 60 days of receiving the request— 

5 ‘‘(A) provide the financial institution mak6 ing the request with written notification that 

7 the agency received the request and stating 

8 whether the request contains the information 

9 required under subsection (b); and 

10 ‘‘(B) if the request does not contain the in11 formation required under subsection (b), pro12 vide the financial institution with an expla13 nation of what information is missing; and 

14 ‘‘(2) within 120 days of receiving the request, 

15 if the request contains the information required 

16 under subsection (b), make a determination on the 

17 request and provide the financial institution with a 

18 written notice of such determination. 

19 ‘‘(d) APPEAL.—For purposes of section 1013(b), the 

20 following actions are deemed a final agency material su21 pervisory determination: 

22 ‘‘(1) Any determination made under subsection 

23 (c)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(2) Any failure by a Federal financial institu2 tions regulatory agency to comply with a deadline re3 quire by this section. 

4 ‘‘(3) Any determination by a Federal financial 

5 institutions regulatory agency under subsection 

6 (c)(1)(B) that a request does not contain the infor7 mation required under subsection (b). 

8 ‘‘(e) REPORTS AND PUBLICATION.—Each Federal fi9 nancial institutions regulatory agency shall, within 120 

10 days after making a determination under subsection 

11 (c)(2), publish a summary of the determination, in order 

12 to offer guidance to the applicable industry. The summary 

13 may not contain confidential or privileged information 

14 about the financial institution, financial institution clients, 

15 or agency personnel.’’. 

Æ 


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