1

AGENCY: Financial Stability Oversight Council.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The Financial Stability Oversight Council (Council) has adopted amendments to its 

procedures for hearings conducted by the Council under Title I and Title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Wall 

Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).1

 The amendments were adopted 

primarily in order to add hearings conducted under section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act to the scope of the 

procedures. 

DATES: The amendments to the hearing procedures were effective on March 13, 2018. Written 

comments on the amendments must be received on or before [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER 

PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric A. Froman, Executive Director, Financial 

Stability Oversight Council, U.S. Treasury Department, (202) 622-1942; Stephen T. Milligan, AttorneyAdvisor, U.S. Treasury Department, (202) 622-4051.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the procedures according to the instructions below. 

All submissions must refer to the document title.

Electronic submission of comments. Interested persons may submit comments electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Electronic submission of comments allows 

the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely receipt, and enables the 

Council to make them available to the public. Comments submitted electronically through the 

http://www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other commenters and interested members of the 

 1 P.L. 111-203 (Jul. 21, 2010). 
2

public. Commenters should follow the instructions provided on that site to submit comments 

electronically.

Mail. Send comments to Financial Stability Oversight Council, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 

Washington, D.C. 20220.

Public inspection of comments. All properly submitted comments will be available for inspection and 

downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.

Additional instructions. In general, comments received, including attachments and other supporting 

materials, are part of the public record and are available to the public. Do not submit any information in 

your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate for public 

disclosure.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On May 22, 2012, the Council approved hearing procedures relating to the conduct of hearings before the 

Council in connection with proposed determinations regarding nonbank financial companies and financial 

market utilities and related emergency waivers or modifications under sections 113 and 804 of the DoddFrank Act.2

 At the time, the Council sought public comment on all aspects of the hearing procedures, in 

order to further consider whether any provision should be modified. On April 4, 2013, the Council 

approved certain amendments to the hearing procedures to expand their scope to include hearings for 

financial institutions engaged in payment, clearing, or settlement activities that are the subject of a 

proposed designation by the Council under Title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Act.

3

 

Amendments to Hearing Procedures

 2 12 U.S.C. 5323, 5463; 77 FR 31,855 (May 30, 2012).

3 78 FR 22,546 (April 16, 2013). 
3

On March 13, 2018, the Council adopted amendments to the hearing procedures, primarily to add 

hearings conducted under section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act to the scope of the procedures. The Council 

has posted the amended hearing procedures on its website at

https://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/fsoc/designations/Pages/Hearing-Procedures.aspx and on 

http://www.regulations.gov. Although the amendments were effective when adopted, the Council is 

requesting comments on the procedures and may make further amendments to reflect any comments 

received. 

Section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act applies to an entity that was a bank holding company having total 

consolidated assets equal to or greater than $50 billion as of January 1, 2010, that received financial 

assistance under or participated in the Capital Purchase Plan established under the Troubled Asset Relief 

Program authorized by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and to any successor entity 

(as defined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board of Governors) in 

consultation with the Council) to such a bank holding company.

4

 Section 117(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act 

provides that such an entity shall, if it ceases to be a bank holding company, be treated as a nonbank 

financial company subject to supervision by the Board of Governors as if the Council had made a 

determination under section 113 of the Dodd-Frank Act with respect to that entity.5

 Section 117(c) of the 

Dodd-Frank Act provides that an entity may request, in writing, an opportunity for a written or oral 

hearing before the Council to appeal its treatment as a nonbank financial company supervised by the 

Board of Governors.6

 

The Council amended the hearing procedures to add hearings conducted under section 117 of the DoddFrank Act to the scope of the procedures. Specifically, the Council amended the definition of “petitioner” 

in section 2 of the hearing procedures to add a reference to entities that are appealing their treatment

pursuant to section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 3(b) of the hearing procedures was amended to 

 4 12 U.S.C. 5327. 5 12 U.S.C. 5327(b).

6 12 U.S.C. 5327(c).
4

provide that a petitioner that is appealing its treatment pursuant to section 117 may request a hearing by 

submitting a written request to the Chairperson of the Council. Section 5(b)(3)(ii) of the hearing 

procedures was amended to provide that any petitioner, including a petitioner appealing its treatment 

pursuant to section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act, may submit additional written materials to supplement 

any materials presented during an oral hearing not later than 7 days after the date of that hearing. A new 

paragraph (4) was added to section 5(b) to provide that, in cases where an oral hearing is held under 

section 113 or 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the date of the hearing shall be deemed to be the date on which 

the Council has received any supplemental materials that are timely submitted after the oral hearing. The 

definition of “hearing date” in section 2 was accordingly deleted as unnecessary. 

To reflect the addition of hearings conducted under section 117 of the Dodd-Frank Act to the scope of the 

procedures, conforming changes were made to sections 1(a) and (b) (regarding the authority for and scope 

of the procedures); section 4(b) (regarding the submission of written materials); section 7 (regarding the 

denial and dismissal of a hearing); and section 8(a) (providing that the substantive standards for Council 

review of petitions is not affected by the hearing procedures). 

Finally, the Council made certain non-substantive or technical changes to update the hearing procedures. 

Specifically, the definitions of “hearing” and “oral hearing” in section 2 were deleted as unnecessary. 

Section 5(c)(2) was amended to clarify that, even when the Council determines to conduct an oral hearing 

through representatives, each member of the Council is entitled to participate in the oral hearing in lieu of 

appointing a representative. The former section 5(d)(1), providing that if the Council grants a request for 

an oral hearing, the hearing shall be conducted through both the submission of written materials and an 

oral hearing, was omitted from the hearing procedures as redundant with other provisions in the 

procedures. The former section 5(d)(2), providing for the conduct of an oral hearing, was redesignated as 

section 5(c)(3) and amended to add, consistent with the Council’s past practice, that the Chairperson of 

the Council, his representative, or the Hearing Clerk (as defined in the procedures) will preside at an oral 

hearing. Section 5(e), regarding transcripts of oral hearings, was redesignated as section 5(d) and 
5

amended to remove the reference to the petitioner’s right to “inspect” a transcript or other recording of the 

oral argument, leaving the reference to the petitioner’s right to receive a copy of the transcript or other 

recording and to submit corrections. 

Dated: March 13, 2018

Eric A. Froman

Executive Director,

Financial Stability Oversight Council