Financial Stability Oversight Council

Program Summary by Budget Activity

Dollars in Thousands

 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2015 TO FY 2016

Budget Activity Actual Estimated Estimated $ Change % Change

Financial Stability Oversight Council $7,660 $8,690 $9,816 $1,126 12.96%

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Payments $11,592 $7,628 $9,500 $1,872 24.54%

Total Cost of Operations $19,252 $16,318 $19,316 $2,998 18.37%

FTE 23 27 31 4 14.81%

1 FY 2014 Actual includes $1.5M returned to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for reimbursement of 

unobligated interim funding transfers made prior to July 20, 2012, pursuant to Section 155(c) of the Dodd-Frank Act. Expenses 

recorded in Object Class 25 - Contractual Services.

Summary

Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, the existing 

financial regulatory framework focused 

narrowly on individual institutions and 

markets, which allowed supervisory gaps to 

grow and regulatory inconsistencies to emerge 

– in turn, allowing arbitrage and weakened 

standards. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the 

Dodd-Frank Act) established the Financial 

Stability Oversight Council (Council) with a 

clear statutory mandate that created for the 

first time collective accountability for 

identifying and responding to emerging threats 

to financial stability. The Council is chaired 

by the Secretary of the Treasury and consists 

of ten voting members and five nonvoting 

members. The Council brings together the 

expertise of the federal financial regulators, an 

insurance expert appointed by the President, 

and state regulators.

The Council’s three primary purposes under 

the Act are:

1. To identify risks to the financial stability 

of the United States that could arise from 

the material financial distress or failure, or 

ongoing activities, of large, interconnected 

bank holding companies or nonbank 

financial companies, or that could arise 

outside the financial services marketplace.

2. To promote market discipline, by 

eliminating expectations on the part of 

shareholders, creditors, and 

counterparties of such companies that 

the U.S. government will shield them from 

losses in the event of failure.

3. To respond to emerging threats to the 

stability of the U.S. financial system.

Over the last year, the Council has continued 

to evaluate whether to designate certain 

nonbank financial companies for Federal 

Reserve supervision and enhanced prudential 

standards, and conducted annual reviews for 

each of the three companies designated in 

2013. The Council continued to monitor the 

eight financial market utilities (FMUs) that 

were designated as systemically important by 

the Council in 2012. The Council also 

continued to identify and monitor potential 

risks to U.S. financial stability; fulfilled 

explicit statutory requirements, including the 

completion of its fourth annual report to 

Congress; and served as a forum for discussion 

and coordination among the member agencies 

implementing the Dodd-Frank Act.

Over the next year, the Council will continue 

to evaluate nonbank financial companies for 

potential designation for Federal Reserve 

supervision and enhanced prudential 

standards; consider whether to designate 

additional FMUs as systemically important; 

monitor the financial system for risks to U.S. 
financial stability; and facilitate interagency 

cooperation to identify and analyze potential 

emerging threats. The Council will also 

continue to facilitate interagency coordination 

and information sharing with respect to 

various regulatory initiatives.

The Council is required by the Dodd-Frank 

Act to convene no less than quarterly, but the 

Council has convened on a more frequent 

basis to share information on key financial 

developments, coordinate on regulatory 

implementation, and monitor progress on 

recommendations from the Council’s annual 

reports. In 2014, the Council convened 10 

times. The Council will continue to remain 

focused on both identifying near-term threats 

and addressing structural vulnerabilities in the 

financial system. Transparency on Council 

work has routinely been provided through an 

annual report to Congress, periodic 

Congressional testimony on Council activities 

and emerging threats to financial stability, and 

regular communications to the public about 

Council activities and decisions.

FSOC FY 2016 Budget Highlights

Dollars in Thousands

Financial Stability Oversight Council FTE Amount

FY 2015 Estimated 27 $16,318 

Changes to Base:

Program Changes

Program Increases 4 $2,998 

Personnel Steady State 4 $618 

Non-Personnel Steady State $508 

FDIC Payment Adjustment $1,872 

FY 2016 Base 31 $19,316 

FY 2016 Estimated 31 $19,316 

*Includes FDIC reimbursement

*The increase includes the impacts of inflation and the 

proposed one percent pay increase

Explanation of Budget Activities

Financial Stability Oversight Council

($9,816,000 from revenue/ offsetting 

collections)

The Council has a clear statutory mandate to 

facilitate coordination among financial 

regulators and identify risks and respond to 

emerging threats to U.S. financial stability.

The Council is not a bureau or office of the 

Department of the Treasury. However, under 

the Dodd-Frank Act, the Council’s expenses 

are considered expenses of the Office of 

Financial Research, an office within the 

Department of the Treasury.

FDIC Payments ($9,500,000 from revenue/

offsetting collections)

Section 210(n)(10) of the Dodd-Frank Act 

provides that certain reasonable 

implementation expenses of the FDIC incurred 

after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act 

shall be treated as expenses of the Council. 

The FDIC must periodically submit 

requests for reimbursement for implementation 

expenses to the Chairperson of the Council, 

who shall arrange for prompt reimbursement 

to the FDIC of reasonable implementation 

expenses. The expenses estimated are for rule 

writing and resolution planning consistent with 

the FDIC's implementation of its 

responsibilities under Title II of the DoddFrank Act.

Description of Performance

There are no measures specified for managing 

Council performance at this time. Information 

on the Council is provided on 

www.treasury.gov, www.fsoc.gov, and 

member agency websites to provide 

transparency and accountability.