II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3709 

To require a Government Accountability Office examination of transactions 

between large financial institutions and the Federal Government, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 21, 2012 

Mr. VITTER (for himself and Mr. BROWN of Ohio) introduced the following 

bill 

DECEMBER 21, 2012 

Read twice, considered, amended, read the third time, and passed 

A BILL 

To require a Government Accountability Office examination 

of transactions between large financial institutions and 

the Federal Government, 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. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 

4 STUDY OF TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN LARGE 

5 FINANCIAL COMPANIES AND THE FEDERAL 

6 GOVERNMENT. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘covered institution’’ means any 

2 bank holding company having more than 

3 $500,000,000,000 in consolidated assets; and 

4 (2) the term ‘‘economic benefit’’ means the dif5 ference between actual loans terms offered, debt or 

6 equity prices, or asset values and a reasonable esti7 mate of what such terms, prices, or values might 

8 have been, as determined by examining actual values 

9 of comparable transaction in the private markets or 

10 by estimating the values of comparable transactions 

11 priced to properly reflect associated risk. 

12 (b) GAO STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the 

13 United States (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Comp14 troller’’) shall conduct a study of covered institutions, such 

15 as— 

16 (1) the favorable pricing of the debt of such in17 stitutions, relative to their risk profile resulting from 

18 the perception that such institutions will receive 

19 Government support in the event of any financial 

20 stress; 

21 (2) any favorable funding or economic treat22 ment resulting from an increase in the credit rating 

23 for covered institutions, as a result of express, im24 plied, or perceived Government support; 


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1 (3) any economic benefit to covered institutions 

2 resulting from the ownership of, or affiliation with, 

3 an insured depository institution; 

4 (4) any economic benefit resulting from the sta5 tus of covered institutions as a bank holding com6 pany, including access to Federal deposit insurance 

7 and the discount window of the Board of Governors 

8 of the Federal Reserve System before the date of en9 actment of this Act; 

10 (5) any economic benefit received through ex11 traordinary Government actions taken, such as— 

12 (A) actions by the Department of the 

13 Treasury— 

14 (i) under the Emergency Economic 

15 Stabilization Act, such as— 

16 (I) asset purchases by the United 

17 States Government; 

18 (II) capital injections from the 

19 United States Government; or 

20 (III) housing programs; or 

21 (ii) by the purchase of the mortgage 

22 backed securities of the Federal National 

23 Mortgage Association and the Federal 

24 Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (in this 

25 Act referred to as ‘‘government-sponsored 


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1 enterprises’’), in order to lower interest 

2 rates, and the value of such securities in 

3 the absence of such purchases; 

4 (B) actions by the Board of Governors of 

5 the Federal Reserve System prior to the date of 

6 enactment of this Act, such as— 

7 (i) providing loans to financial institu8 tions through the Term Auction Facility; 

9 and 

10 (ii) assistance through programs 

11 under section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve 

12 Act prior to the date of enactment of this 

13 Act, such as— 

14 (I) lending through the Commer15 cial Paper Funding Facility; 

16 (II) securities lending to primary 

17 dealers through the Primary Dealer 

18 Credit Facility and the Term Securi19 ties Lending Facility; 

20 (III) lending to institutions 

21 through the Term Asset-Backed Secu22 rities Loan Facility; or 

23 (IV) purchasing assets through 

24 the Maiden Lane facility; and 


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1 (C) actions by the Federal Deposit Insur2 ance Corporation, such as— 

3 (i) guaranteeing debt or deposits 

4 through the Temporary Liquidity Guar5 antee Program; or 

6 (ii) pricing of assessments related to 

7 any such guarantees; and 

8 (6) any extraordinary assistance provided to 

9 American Insurance Group, but ultimately received 

10 by one of the covered institutions; and 

11 (7) any Government actions that resulted in the 

12 payment or nonpayment of credit default swap con13 tracts entered into by a covered institution. 

14 SEC. 2. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

15 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, the Comptroller shall submit a report to Con17 gress detailing the findings of the Comptroller in the study 

18 conducted under this Act. Such report shall be made elec19 tronically available to the public, except that any propri20 etary, sensitive, or confidential information shall be re21 dacted in any release to the public. 


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1 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 Nothing in this Act may be construed to provide au3 thority inconsistent with, or to otherwise affect, section 

4 714 of title 31 United States Code. 

Æ 


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