II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1803 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize reviews by the Comptroller General of the United States of emergency credit facilities established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or 

any Federal Reserve bank, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 20, 2009 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. CORKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize reviews 

by the Comptroller General of the United States of emergency credit facilities established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal 

Reserve bank, 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 ‘‘Federal Reserve Ac5 countability Act of 2009’’. 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1803 IS

1 SEC. 2. REVIEWS OF SPECIAL FEDERAL RESERVE CREDIT 

2 FACILITIES. 

3 (a) REVIEWS.—Section 714 of title 31, United States 

4 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(f) REVIEWS OF CREDIT FACILITIES OF THE FED6 ERAL RESERVE SYSTEM.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

8 ‘credit facilities’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) the Money Market Investor Funding 

10 Facility; 

11 ‘‘(B) the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper 

12 Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility; 

13 ‘‘(C) the Term Asset-Backed Securities 

14 Loan Facility; 

15 ‘‘(D) the Primary Dealer Credit Facility; 

16 ‘‘(E) the Commercial Paper Funding Fa17 cility; 

18 ‘‘(F) any other credit facility approved by 

19 the Board under the 3rd undesignated para20 graph of section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act 

21 (12 U.S.C. 343), other than a credit facility 

22 that is subject to the requirements of subsection 

23 (e); and 

24 ‘‘(G) any special purpose vehicle through 

25 which any activity described in subparagraphs 

26 (A) through (F) is conducted. 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1803 IS

1 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

2 and notwithstanding any limitation in subsection (b) 

3 on the auditing and oversight of certain functions of 

4 the Board or any Federal Reserve bank, the Comp5 troller General may conduct reviews, including onsite 

6 examinations, if the Comptroller General determines 

7 that such examinations are appropriate, of the ac8 counting, financial reporting, and internal controls 

9 of credit facilities established by the Board or any 

10 Federal Reserve bank, including when such activities 

11 are carried out by or on behalf of the Board or any 

12 official of a Federal Reserve bank. 

13 ‘‘(3) REPORTS AND DELAYED DISCLOSURE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) REPORTS REQUIRED.—A report on 

15 each review conducted under paragraph (2) 

16 shall be submitted by the Comptroller General 

17 to the Congress before the end of the 90-day 

18 period beginning on the date on which such re19 view is completed. 

20 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report under sub21 paragraph (A) shall include a detailed descrip22 tion of the findings and conclusions of the 

23 Comptroller General with respect to the review 

24 that is the subject of the report, together with 

25 such recommendations for legislative or adminVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:43 Oct 20, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1803.IS S1803

wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1803 IS

1 istrative action as the Comptroller General may 

2 determine to be appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(C) DELAYED RELEASE OF CERTAIN IN4 FORMATION.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller 

6 General shall not disclose to any person or 

7 entity, including to the Congress, the 

8 names or identifying details of specific par9 ticipants in any of the audited facilities or 

10 identifying details regarding assets or col11 lateral held by, under, or in connection 

12 with any of the audited facilities, and any 

13 report provided under subparagraph (A) 

14 shall be redacted to ensure that such de15 tails are not disclosed. 

16 ‘‘(ii) DELAYED RELEASE.—The non17 disclosure obligation under clause (i) shall 

18 expire, and the Comptroller General shall 

19 release a nonredacted version of any re20 ports on specific credit facilities, 1 year 

21 after the termination of the relevant credit 

22 facility.’’. 

23 (b) ACCESS TO RECORDS.—Section 714(d) of title 

24 31, United States Code (as amended by section 801 of 

25 Public Law 111–22), is amended— 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1803 IS

1 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or any sin2 gle and specific partnership or corporation (as speci3 fied in subsection (e)) or any facility established by 

4 an agency (as specified in subsection (f))’’ after 

5 ‘‘used by an agency’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or (f)’’ after 

7 ‘‘subsection (e)’’ each place that term appears; and 

8 (3) in paragraph (3)(B), by adding at the end 

9 the following: ‘‘The Comptroller General may make 

10 and retain copies of books, accounts, and other 

11 records provided under subparagraph (A) as the 

12 Comptroller General deems appropriate. The Comp13 troller General shall have access to the officers, em14 ployees, contractors, and other agents and represent15 atives of any single and specific partnership or cor16 poration (as specified in subsection (e)) or any credit 

17 facility established by an agency (as specified in sub18 section (f)) at any reasonable time, as the Comp19 troller General may request. The Comptroller Gen20 eral shall provide to any such partnership, corpora21 tion, or credit facility a current list of officers and 

22 employees to whom, with proper identification, 

23 records and property may be made available, and 

24 who may make notes or copies necessary to carry 

25 out a review or examination under this subsection.’’. 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1803 IS

1 SEC. 3. PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall place on its home 

3 Internet website a link entitled ‘‘Audit’’, which shall link 

4 to a webpage that shall serve as a repository of informa5 tion made available to the public for a reasonable period 

6 of time, not less than 6 months following the date of re7 lease of the relevant information, including— 

8 (1) the reports prepared by the Comptroller 

9 General under section 714 of title 31, United States 

10 Code; 

11 (2) the annual financial statements prepared by 

12 an independent auditor for the Board of Governors 

13 of the Federal Reserve System (in this section re14 ferred to as the ‘‘Board’’) in accordance with section 

15 11B of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 248b); 

16 and 

17 (3) such other information as the Board reason18 ably believes is necessary or helpful to the public in 

19 understanding the accounting, financial reporting, 

20 and internal controls of the Board and the Federal 

21 Reserve banks. 

Æ 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS