I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8288 

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to carry 

out a review of discount window operations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2024 

Mr. BARR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System to carry out a review of discount window operations, 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 ‘‘Bringing the Discount 

5 Window into the 21st Century Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REVIEW OF DISCOUNT WINDOW OPERATIONS. 

7 Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 241 

8 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraph (12) as para10 graph (11); and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(12) REVIEW OF DISCOUNT WINDOW OPER3 ATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

5 days after the date of enactment of this para6 graph, the Board of Governors shall commence 

7 a review of the discount window lending pro8 grams of the Federal reserve banks (the ‘dis9 count window’), and shall complete such review 

10 not later than 240 days after the date of enact11 ment of this paragraph. 

12 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The review required by 

13 subparagraph (A) shall include a consideration 

14 of— 

15 ‘‘(i) the effectiveness of the discount 

16 window in providing liquidity to financial 

17 institutions, including in times of financial 

18 stress; 

19 ‘‘(ii) whether the technology infra20 structure, including means of communica21 tions, are sufficient to support the timely 

22 provision of liquidity, including in times of 

23 financial stress; 

24 ‘‘(iii) the effectiveness of cybersecurity 

25 measures; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the effectiveness of communica2 tions between Federal reserve banks re3 garding discount window operations; 

4 ‘‘(v) the effectiveness of the Board of 

5 Governors in providing oversight of the 

6 discount window; 

7 ‘‘(vi) how the discount window inter8 acts with other providers of liquidity, in9 cluding the Federal Home Loan Banks, 

10 during both normal operations and times 

11 of financial distress; and 

12 ‘‘(vii) the effectiveness of existing dis13 count window operating hours and whether 

14 such hours should be expanded, taking into 

15 account the interaction between discount 

16 window operating hours and the operating 

17 hours of payment systems of the Board of 

18 Governors and Federal reserve banks, such 

19 as FedWire and FedNow. 

20 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC COMMENT.—In carrying out 

21 the review required by subparagraph (A), the 

22 Board of Governors shall provide the public 

23 with an opportunity to comment on the effec24 tiveness of discount window operations and to 

25 offer suggestions for improving operations. 


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1 ‘‘(D) REMEDIATION PLAN.—After com2 pleting the review required by subparagraph (A) 

3 and considering any public comments received 

4 pursuant to subparagraph (C), the Board of 

5 Governors shall develop, and approve by a vote 

6 of the Board of Governors, a written plan to re7 mediate any identified deficiencies or areas for 

8 enhancing effectiveness of the discount window, 

9 which shall include— 

10 ‘‘(i) an identification of actions that 

11 the Board of Governors will take to reme12 diate those deficiencies; 

13 ‘‘(ii) timelines and milestones for im14 plementing the plan and measures to dem15 onstrate how the Board of Governors will 

16 maintain implemented improvements on an 

17 ongoing basis; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) measures of managing and con19 trolling deficiencies until the plan is imple20 mented in full. 

21 ‘‘(E) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON REVIEW

22 AND PLAN.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

24 365 days after the date of enactment of 

25 this paragraph, the Board of Governors 


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1 shall, after approval by a vote of the Board 

2 of Governors, submit a report to the Com3 mittee on Financial Services of the House 

4 of Representatives and the Committee on 

5 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 

6 the Senate containing— 

7 ‘‘(I) the findings of the review re8 quired by subparagraph (A); 

9 ‘‘(II) the remediation plan re10 quired by subparagraph (D); 

11 ‘‘(ii) CONSULTATION.—Before submit12 ting the report required by clause (i), the 

13 Board of Governors shall— 

14 ‘‘(I) provide a copy of the pro15 posed report to the Comptroller Gen16 eral of the United States and the In17 spector General of the Board of Gov18 ernors of the Federal Reserve System 

19 and the Bureau of Consumer Finan20 cial Protection; and 

21 ‘‘(II) provide the Comptroller 

22 General and Inspector General with 

23 an opportunity to provide feedback on 

24 the report. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) TESTIMONY.—The Chairman of 

2 the Board of Governors shall testify before 

3 the Committee on Financial Services of the 

4 House of Representatives and the Com5 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

6 Affairs of the Senate with respect to the 

7 contents of the report required under this 

8 subparagraph. 

9 ‘‘(F) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) REPORTS BY THE BOARD.—The 

11 Board of Governors shall submit an annual 

12 report to the Committee on Financial Serv13 ices of the House of Representatives and 

14 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

15 Urban Affairs of the Senate containing a 

16 review of the effectiveness of discount win17 dow operations. 

18 ‘‘(ii) REPORTS BY THE INSPECTOR

19 GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the 

20 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

21 System and the Bureau of Consumer Fi22 nancial Protection shall submit an annual 

23 report to the Committee on Financial Serv24 ices of the House of Representatives and 

25 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 


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1 Urban Affairs of the Senate containing a 

2 report on the progress of the Board of 

3 Governors in implementing the remediation 

4 plan required by subparagraph (D). 

5 ‘‘(G) CONFIDENTIAL REPORT INFORMA6 TION.—Any report required under this para7 graph may contain a confidential annex con8 taining information that details any cybersecu9 rity deficiencies or any deficiencies which, if 

10 made public, could cause financial instability.’’. 

Æ 


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