I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3928 
To improve the accountability and transparency of the Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 27, 2014 
Mr. GARRETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To improve the accountability and transparency of the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Reserve Ac-
countability and Transparency Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. 
Section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 
248) is amended by inserting after subsection (l) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(m) CONSIDERATION OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before issuing any regula-
tion, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System shall— 
‘‘(A) clearly identify the nature and source 
of the problem that the proposed regulation is 
designed to address, as well as assess the sig-
nificance of that problem, to enable assessment 
of whether any new regulation is warranted; 
‘‘(B) assess the costs and benefits, both 
qualitative and quantitative, of the intended 
regulation and propose or adopt a regulation 
only on a reasoned determination that the bene-
fits of the intended regulation outweigh the 
costs of the regulation; 
‘‘(C) identify and assess available alter-
natives to the regulation that were considered, 
including modification of an existing regulation, 
together with an explanation of why the regula-
tion meets the regulatory objectives more effec-
tively than the alternatives; and 
‘‘(D) ensure that any regulation is acces-
sible, consistent, written in plain language, and 
easy to understand and shall measure, and seek 
to improve, the actual results of regulatory re-
quirements. 
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‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS AND ACTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIRED
ACTIONS.—In deciding 
whether and how to regulate, the Board shall 
assess the costs and benefits of available regu-
latory alternatives, including the alternative of 
not regulating, and choose the approach that 
maximizes net benefits. Specifically, the Board 
shall— 
‘‘(i) evaluate whether, consistent with 
obtaining regulatory objectives, the regula-
tion is tailored to impose the least burden 
on society, including market participants, 
individuals, businesses of differing sizes, 
and other entities (including State and 
local governmental entities), taking into ac-
count, to the extent practicable, the cumu-
lative costs of regulations; and 
‘‘(ii) evaluate whether the regulation 
is inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative 
of other Federal regulations. 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
addition, in making a reasoned determination of 
the costs and benefits of a potential regulation, 
the Board shall, to the extent that each is rel-
evant to the particular proposed regulation, 
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take into consideration the impact of the regu-
lation on— 
‘‘(i) investor choice; 
‘‘(ii) market liquidity in the securities 
markets; 
‘‘(iii) small businesses; 
‘‘(iv) economic growth; 
‘‘(v) cost and access to capital; 
‘‘(vi) market stability; 
‘‘(vii) global competitiveness; 
‘‘(viii) job creation; 
‘‘(ix) rate of inflation; and 
‘‘(x) employment levels. 
‘‘(3) EXPLANATION
AND
COMMENTS.—The 
Board shall explain in its final rule the nature of 
comments that it received, including those from the 
industry or consumer groups concerning the poten-
tial costs or benefits of the proposed rule or pro-
posed rule change, and shall provide a response to 
those comments in its final rule, including an expla-
nation of any changes that were made in response 
to those comments and the reasons that the Board 
did not incorporate those industry group concerns 
related to the potential costs or benefits in the final 
rule. 
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‘‘(4) POST-ADOPTION IMPACT ASSESSMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Board 
adopts or amends a regulation designated as a 
‘major rule’ within the meaning of section 
804(2) of title 5, United States Code, it shall 
state, in its adopting release, the following: 
‘‘(i) The purposes and intended con-
sequences of the regulation. 
‘‘(ii) Appropriate post-implementation 
quantitative and qualitative metrics to 
measure the economic impact of the regu-
lation and to measure the extent to which 
the regulation has accomplished the stated 
purposes. 
‘‘(iii) The assessment plan that will be 
used, consistent with the requirements of 
subparagraph (B), to assess whether the 
regulation has achieved the stated pur-
poses. 
‘‘(iv) Any reasonably foreseeable indi-
rect effects that may result from the regu-
lation. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS
OF
ASSESSMENT 
PLAN AND REPORT.— 
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‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS OF PLAN.—The 
assessment plan required under this para-
graph shall consider the costs, benefits, 
and intended and unintended consequences 
of the regulation. The plan shall specify 
the data to be collected, the methods for 
collection and analysis of the data and a 
date for completion of the assessment. The 
assessment plan shall include an analysis 
of any jobs added or lost as a result of the 
regulation, differentiating between public 
and private sector jobs. 
‘‘(ii) SUBMISSION
AND
PUBLICATION 
OF REPORT.—The Board shall, not later 
than 2 years after the publication of the 
adopting release, cause the assessment re-
port to be published in the Federal Reg-
ister for notice and comment. If the Board 
determines, at least 90 days before such 
date, that an extension is necessary, the 
Board shall publish a notice of such exten-
sion in the Federal Register, along with 
the specific reasons why the extension is 
necessary. Any material modification of the 
plan, as necessary to assess unforeseen as-
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pects or consequences of the regulation, 
shall be promptly published in the Federal 
Register for notice and comment. 
‘‘(iii) DATA
COLLECTION
NOT
SUB-
JECT TO NOTICE AND COMMENT REQUIRE-
MENTS.—If the Board has published its 
assessment plan for notice and comment, 
specifying the data to be collected and 
method of collection, at least 30 days prior 
to adoption of a final regulation or amend-
ment, such collection of data shall not be 
subject to the notice and comment require-
ments in section 3506(c) of title 44, 
United States Code (commonly referred to 
as the Paperwork Reduction Act). Any ma-
terial modifications of the plan that require 
collection of data not previously published 
for notice and comment shall also be ex-
empt from such requirements if the Board 
has published notice for comment in the 
Federal Register of the additional data to 
be collected, at least 30 days prior to initi-
ation of data collection. 
‘‘(iv) FINAL ACTION.—Not later than 
180 days after publication of the assess-
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ment report in the Federal Register, the 
Board shall issue for notice and comment 
a proposal to amend or rescind the regula-
tion, or publish a notice that the Board 
has determined that no action will be taken 
on the regulation. Such a notice will be 
deemed a final agency action. 
‘‘(5) COVERED REGULATIONS AND OTHER AC-
TIONS.—Solely as used in this subsection, the term 
‘regulation’— 
‘‘(A) means a statement of general applica-
bility and future effect that is designed to im-
plement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or 
to describe the procedure or practice require-
ments of the Board of Governors, including 
rules, orders of general applicability, interpre-
tive releases, and other statements of general 
applicability that the Board of Governors in-
tends to have the force and effect of law; and 
‘‘(B) does not include— 
‘‘(i) a regulation issued in accordance 
with the formal rulemaking provisions of 
section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States 
Code; 
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‘‘(ii) a regulation that is limited to the 
organization, management, or personnel 
matters of the Board of Governors; 
‘‘(iii) a regulation promulgated pursu-
ant to statutory authority that expressly 
prohibits compliance with this provision; 
and 
‘‘(iv) a regulation that is certified by 
the Board of Governors to be an emer-
gency action, if such certification is pub-
lished in the Federal Register.’’. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE BLACKOUT 
PERIOD. 
Section 12A of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 
263) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) BLACKOUT PERIOD.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During a blackout period, 
the only public communications that may be made 
by members and staff of the Committee with respect 
to macroeconomic or financial developments or about 
current or prospective monetary policy issues are the 
following: 
‘‘(A) The dissemination of published data, 
surveys, and reports that have been cleared for 
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publication by the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System. 
‘‘(B) Answering technical questions specific 
to a data release. 
‘‘(C) Communications with respect to the 
prudential or supervisory functions of the 
Board of Governors. 
‘‘(2) BLACKOUT PERIOD DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this subsection, and with respect to a meet-
ing of the Committee described under subsection (a), 
the term ‘blackout period’ means the time period 
that— 
‘‘(A) begins immediately after midnight on 
the day that is 1-week prior to the date on 
which such meeting takes place; and 
‘‘(B) ends at midnight on the day after the 
date on which such meeting takes place.’’. 
SEC. 4. STAFF TERM LIMITS, PAY, ETHICS STANDARDS, AND 
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 11 of the Federal Reserve 
Act (12 U.S.C. 248) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the second subsection (s) 
(relating to assessments, fees, and other charges) as 
subsection (t); and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(u) ETHICS STANDARDS FOR MEMBERS AND EM-
PLOYEES.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITED AND RESTRICTED FINANCIAL 
INTERESTS AND TRANSACTIONS.—The members and 
employees of the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System shall be subject to the provisions 
under section 4401.102 of title 5, Code of Federal 
Regulations, to the same extent as such provisions 
apply to an employee of the Securities and Exchange 
Commission. 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT
OF
BROKERAGE
ACCOUNTS 
AND AVAILABILITY OF ACCOUNT STATEMENTS.—The 
members and employees of the Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System shall— 
‘‘(A) disclose all brokerage accounts that 
they maintain, as well as those in which they 
control trading or have a financial interest (in-
cluding managed accounts, trust accounts, in-
vestment club accounts, and the accounts of 
spouses or minor children who live with the 
member or employee); and 
‘‘(B) with respect to any securities account 
that the member or employee is required to dis-
close to the Board of Governors, authorize their 
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brokers and dealers to send duplicate account 
statements directly to Board of Governors. 
‘‘(3) PROHIBITIONS RELATED TO OUTSIDE EM-
PLOYMENT AND ACTIVITIES.—The members and em-
ployees of the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System shall be subject to the prohibitions 
related to outside employment and activities de-
scribed under section 4401.103(c) of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such pro-
hibitions apply to an employee of the Securities and 
Exchange Commission. 
‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL
ETHICS
STANDARDS.—The 
members and employees of the Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System shall be subject to— 
‘‘(A) the employee responsibilities and con-
duct regulations of the Office of Personnel 
Management under part 735 of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations; 
‘‘(B) the canons of ethics contained in sub-
part C of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal 
Regulations, to the same extent as such subpart 
applies to the employees of the Securities and 
Exchange Commission; and 
‘‘(C) the regulations concerning the con-
duct of members and employees and former 
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members and employees contained in subpart M 
of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, to the same extent as such subpart ap-
plies to the employees of the Securities and Ex-
change Commission. 
‘‘(v) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES REQUIRED TO MAKE 
A PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.—For purposes of the 
financial disclosure requirements under part 2634 of title 
5, Code of Federal Regulations, an employee of the Board 
of Governors shall be deemed a public filer if the employee 
is an attorney, accountant, examiner, auditor, investi-
gator, or deals with information technology security. 
‘‘(w) DISCLOSURE OF STAFF SALARIES AND FINAN-
CIAL INFORMATION.—The Board of Governors of the Fed-
eral Reserve System shall make publicly available, on the 
website of the Board of Governors, a searchable database 
that contains the names of all Members, officers, and em-
ployees of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System and each Federal reserve bank, and— 
‘‘(1) the yearly salary information for such indi-
viduals, along with any non-salary compensation re-
ceived by such individuals; and 
‘‘(2) any financial disclosures required to be 
made by such individuals.’’. 
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(b) LIMITATION
ON FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 
STAFF PAY AND TERMS OF OFFICE.—The Federal Re-
serve Act is amended— 
(1) in the provision enumerated ‘‘Fifth’’ of the 
fourth undesignated paragraph of section 4, by in-
serting after the first sentence the following: ‘‘Such 
president, vice presidents, and other officers and em-
ployees may not be paid a salary in excess of 99 per-
cent of the salary of the Chairman of the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System. No person 
may serve for more than 6 years in any one of the 
following positions: general counsel, deputy general 
counsel, senior adviser, director, deputy director, 
senior associate director, and assistant director.’’; 
and 
(2) in section 11(l), by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘No attorney, expert, assistant, clerk, or 
other employee of the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System may be paid a salary in ex-
cess of 99 percent of the salary of the Chairman of 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem. No person may serve for more than 6 years in 
any one of the following positions: general counsel, 
deputy general counsel, senior adviser, director, dep-
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uty director, senior associate director, and assistant 
director.’’. 
(c) OFFICE STAFF
FOR EACH MEMBER
OF
THE 
BOARD OF GOVERNORS.—Section 11(t) of the Federal Re-
serve Act, as amended by subsection (b), is further amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Each member of 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
may employ 4 individuals for the purpose of staffing the 
member’s office, with such individuals selected by such 
member and the salaries of such individuals set by such 
member.’’. 
(d) GAO STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall carry out a study on— 
(A) employee pay and the employee pay 
scale used by the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, including— 
(i) how individual employee compensa-
tion relates to job function, educational at-
tainment, and work experience; and 
(ii) how the pay scale compares to the 
pay scales used by other Federal depart-
ments and agencies, especially other finan-
cial regulators; and 
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(B) requiring the Board of Governors of 
the Federal Reserve System to be funded 
through the regular appropriations process. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 
180-day period beginning on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall issue 
a report to the Congress containing— 
(A) all findings and determinations made 
by the Comptroller General in carrying out the 
study required under paragraph (1); 
(B) recommendations on how to make the 
pay scale used by the Board of Governors more 
consistent with pay scales used by other Fed-
eral departments and agencies; and 
(C) a report on the pay amounts for em-
ployees at the Board of Governors, broken down 
by division and job function. 
SEC. 5. VICE CHAIRMAN FOR SUPERVISION REPORT RE-
QUIREMENT. 
Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (12) as para-
graph (11); and 
(2) in paragraph (11), as so redesignated, by 
adding at the end the following: ‘‘In each such ap-
pearance, the Vice Chairman for Supervision shall 
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provide written testimony that includes the status of 
all pending and anticipated rulemakings that are 
being made by the Board of Governors of the Fed-
eral Reserve System. If, at the time of any appear-
ance described in this paragraph, the position of 
Vice Chairman for Supervision is vacant, the Vice 
Chairman for the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System (who has the responsibility to serve 
in the absence of the Chairman) shall appear instead 
and provide the required written testimony. If, at 
the time of any appearance described in this para-
graph, both Vice Chairman positions are vacant, the 
Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System shall appear instead and provide the 
required written testimony.’’. 
SEC. 6. FEDERAL RESERVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH CON-
GRESS. 
Section 2B of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 
225b) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(3) QUESTION PERIOD.—During any appear-
ance before a committee of the Congress, the Chair-
man or any other official or employee of the Board 
of Governors making such appearance shall remain 
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as long as members of the committee have questions, 
but no later than 5 p.m.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in the heading for such subsection, by 
striking ‘‘REPORT’’ and inserting ‘‘REPORTS, 
QUESTIONS, AND MEETINGS’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘The Board’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) RESPONSES
TO
CONGRESSIONAL
COM-
MITTEE QUESTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than the 
end of the 6-week period following the date on 
which any member or employee of the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System ap-
pears before a committee of the Congress, the 
Board shall respond, in writing, to any ques-
tions submitted by such committee. 
‘‘(B) INABILITY TO MEET DEADLINE.—If 
the written response described under subpara-
graph (A) cannot be provided within the 6-week 
period described under such subparagraph, the 
Chairman of the Board shall inform the chair-
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man of the appropriate committee, in writing, 
within such 6-week period— 
‘‘(i) as to why the Board is unable to 
provide the written response within the 6- 
week period; and 
‘‘(ii) the expected date on which the 
Board will respond to such questions. 
‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL MEETING REQUEST AC-
COUNTABILITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Upon receiving a 
meeting request from a member or staff mem-
ber serving on the Committee of Financial 
Services or Budget of the House of Representa-
tives or the Committee of Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs or Budget of the Senate, the 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem shall— 
‘‘(i) respond, within 3 business days, 
to notify such member or staff member 
that the request has been received; and 
‘‘(ii) include in such response whether 
the meeting request can be accommodated 
and, if so, the dates and times when offi-
cers and employees of the Board are avail-
able for such meeting. 
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‘‘(B) INABILITY TO ACCOMMODATE MEET-
ING.—If, in a response described under sub-
paragraph (A), the Board states that the meet-
ing cannot be accommodated within the 2-week 
period following such response, the Chairman of 
the Board shall accompany such response with 
a detailed written explanation to the chairman 
of the committee as to why the meeting cannot 
be accommodated within such period and when 
the request will be accommodated. 
‘‘(4) SALARY FREEZE WHILE IN VIOLATION.— 
During any period of time with respect to which the 
Board of Governors or the Chairman of the Board 
of Governors is in violation of any provision of this 
subsection, no employee of the Board of Governors 
may receive an increase in salary or other compensa-
tion.’’. 
SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY OF REGULATORY ACTIVITIES. 
(a) STRESS TEST RULEMAKING, GAO REVIEW, AND 
PUBLICATION OF RESULTS.—Section 165(i)(1)(B) of the 
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protec-
tion Act (12 U.S.C. 5365(i)(1)(B)) is amended— 
(1) by amending clause (i) to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) shall— 
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‘‘(I) issue regulations, after pro-
viding for public notice and comment, 
that provide for at least 3 different 
sets of conditions under which the 
evaluation required by this subsection 
shall be conducted, including baseline, 
adverse, and severely adverse, and 
methodologies including models used 
to estimate losses on certain assets; 
‘‘(II) provide copies of such regu-
lations to the Comptroller General of 
the United States and the Panel of 
Economic Advisors of the Congres-
sional Budget Office before publishing 
such regulations;’’; and 
(2) in clause (v), by inserting before the period 
the following: ‘‘, including any results of a resub-
mitted test’’. 
(b) PUBLICATION OF THE NUMBER OF SUPERVISORY 
LETTERS SENT TO THE LARGEST BANK HOLDING COM-
PANIES.—Section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Re-
form and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5365) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(l) PUBLICATION OF SUPERVISORY LETTER INFOR-
MATION.—The Board of Governors shall publicly dis-
close— 
‘‘(1) the aggregate number of supervisory let-
ters sent to bank holding companies described in 
subsection (a) since the date of the enactment of 
this section, and keep such number updated; and 
‘‘(2) the aggregate number of such letters that 
are designated as ‘Matters Requiring Attention’ and 
the aggregate number of such letters that are des-
ignated as ‘Matters Requiring Immediate Atten-
tion’.’’. 
(c) DISCLOSURE OF AUDITS AND REVIEWS TO AP-
PROPRIATE COMMITTEES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the end of 
the 30-day period beginning on the date of the en-
actment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Hous-
ing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate unredacted 
copies of— 
(A) the Board of Governors’ Review of 
Regulatory Supervisory Audit; 
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(B) the Board of Governors’ 2003–2008 
Performance Review; and 
(C) each performance review performed by 
the Board of Governors after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(2) NOTICE OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—The 
Board of Governors shall ensure that the documents 
described under paragraph (1) are accompanied by 
a list of any sections in such documents that the 
Board of Governors deems to be sensitive informa-
tion that should not be made public. 
SEC. 8. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DIRECTORS AND PRESI-
DENTS. 
(a) ELIMINATION OF CLASS C DIRECTORS.—Section 
4 of the Federal Reserve Act is amended— 
(1) in the provision enumerated ‘‘Fifth’’ of the 
fourth undesignated paragraph, by striking ‘‘and 
Class C’’; 
(2) in the ninth undesignated paragraph, by 
striking ‘‘classes A, B, and C’’ and inserting ‘‘class-
es A and B’’; 
(3) in the tenth undesignated paragraph, by 
striking ‘‘three members’’ and inserting ‘‘four mem-
bers’’; 
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(4) in the eleventh undesignated paragraph, by 
striking ‘‘three members’’ and inserting ‘‘five mem-
bers’’; 
(5) by striking the twelfth and fifteenth undes-
ignated paragraphs; 
(6) by amending the twentieth undesignated 
paragraph to read as follows: 
‘‘(20) DESIGNATION OF CHAIRMAN AND DEP-
UTY CHAIRMAN.— 
‘‘(A) DESIGNATION OF CHAIRMAN.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—One of the class A 
or B directors who has tested banking ex-
perience shall be designated by the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem as chairman of the board of directors 
of the Federal reserve bank and as Federal 
reserve agent. 
‘‘(ii) DUTIES.—The chairman shall— 
‘‘(I) maintain, under regulations 
to be established by the Board of Gov-
ernors of the Federal Reserve System, 
a local office of said board on the 
premises of the Federal reserve bank; 
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‘‘(II) make regular reports to the 
Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System; and 
‘‘(III) act as the official rep-
resentative of the Board of Governors 
for the performance of the functions 
conferred upon it by this Act. 
‘‘(iii) COMPENSATION.—The chairman 
shall receive an annual compensation to be 
fixed by the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System and paid monthly 
by the Federal reserve bank to which the 
chairman is designated. 
‘‘(B) DESIGNATION
OF
DEPUTY
CHAIR-
MAN.—One of the class A or B directors shall 
be appointed by the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System as deputy chairman to 
exercise the powers of the chairman of the 
board when necessary.’’; and 
(7) by amending the twenty-fourth undesig-
nated paragraph to read as follows: 
‘‘(24) TERM OF DIRECTORS; VACANCIES.— 
‘‘(A) TERM OF DIRECTORS.—Every direc-
tor of a Federal reserve bank shall hold office 
for a term of three years, and such terms shall 
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be staggered, from the date of the enactment of 
this paragraph, such that— 
‘‘(i) with respect to the four class A 
directors, one director’s term shall expire 
in each of the first and second years and 
two directors’ terms shall expire in the 
third year; and 
‘‘(ii) with respect to the five class B 
directors, one director’s term shall expire 
in the first year and two directors’ terms 
shall expire in each of the second and third 
years. 
‘‘(B) VACANCIES.—Vacancies that may 
occur in the several classes of directors of Fed-
eral reserve banks may be filled in the manner 
provided for the original selection of such direc-
tors, such appointees to hold office for the un-
expired terms of their predecessors.’’. 
(b) APPOINTMENT OF BANK PRESIDENT AND VICE 
PRESIDENT.—The provision enumerated ‘‘Fifth’’ of the 
fourth undesignated paragraph of section 4 of the Federal 
Reserve Act is amended by striking ‘‘with the approval 
of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem,’’. 
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SEC. 9. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND NEGOTIATIONS. 
(a) INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL.—Section 11 of the 
Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 248), as amended by sec-
tion 4, is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(x) TEMPORARY
AUTHORIZATION
FOR
INTER-
NATIONAL TRAVEL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Members and employees of 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem may not travel outside of the United States for 
the purposes of performing any function on behalf of 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem after the end of the 2-year period beginning on 
the date of enactment of this subsection. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply to travel through another country for purposes 
of traveling from one part of the United States to 
another part of the United States.’’. 
(b) INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS.—Section 11 of 
the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 248), as amended by 
subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(y) INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) NOTICE
OF
NEGOTIATIONS; CONSULTA-
TION.—At least 90 calendar days before any Mem-
ber or employee of the Board of Governors of the 
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Federal Reserve System enters into negotiations 
with any foreign or multinational entity, the Board 
of Governors shall— 
‘‘(A) issue a notice of negotiations to the 
Committee on Financial Services of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Bank-
ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 
‘‘(B) make such notice available to the 
public, including on the website of the Board of 
Governors; and 
‘‘(C) solicit public comment, and consult 
with the committees described under subpara-
graph (A), with respect to the topic matter, 
scope, and goals of the negotiations. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC
REPORTS
ON
NEGOTIATIONS.— 
After the end of any negotiation described under 
paragraph (1), the Board of Governors shall issue a 
public report on the topics that were discussed at 
the negotiation and any new or revised rulemakings 
or policy changes that the Board of Governors be-
lieve should be enacted as a result of the negotia-
tions. 
‘‘(3) NOTICE
OF
AGREEMENTS; CONSULTA-
TION.—At least 90 calendar days before any Mem-
ber or employee of the Board of Governors of the 
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Federal Reserve System enters into any agreement 
with any foreign or multinational entity, the Board 
of Governors shall— 
‘‘(A) issue a notice of agreement to the 
Committee on Financial Services of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Bank-
ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 
‘‘(B) make such notice available to the 
public, including on the website of the Board of 
Governors; and 
‘‘(C) consult with such committees with re-
spect to the nature of the agreement and any 
anticipated effects such agreement will have on 
the economy.’’. 
SEC. 10. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 
EXAMINATION COUNCIL. 
(a) ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.—Section 1008 of the Fed-
eral Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 
1978 (12 U.S.C. 3305) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(d) CONSIDERATION OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before issuing any regula-
tion, the Council shall— 
‘‘(A) clearly identify the nature and source 
of the problem that the proposed regulation is 
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designed to address, as well as assess the sig-
nificance of that problem, to enable assessment 
of whether any new regulation is warranted; 
‘‘(B) assess the costs and benefits, both 
qualitative and quantitative, of the intended 
regulation and propose or adopt a regulation 
only on a reasoned determination that the bene-
fits of the intended regulation outweigh the 
costs of the regulation; 
‘‘(C) identify and assess available alter-
natives to the regulation that were considered, 
including modification of an existing regulation, 
together with an explanation of why the regula-
tion meets the regulatory objectives more effec-
tively than the alternatives; and 
‘‘(D) ensure that any regulation is acces-
sible, consistent, written in plain language, and 
easy to understand and shall measure, and seek 
to improve, the actual results of regulatory re-
quirements. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS AND ACTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIRED
ACTIONS.—In deciding 
whether and how to regulate, the Council shall 
assess the costs and benefits of available regu-
latory alternatives, including the alternative of 
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not regulating, and choose the approach that 
maximizes net benefits. Specifically, the Council 
shall— 
‘‘(i) evaluate whether, consistent with 
obtaining regulatory objectives, the regula-
tion is tailored to impose the least burden 
on society, including market participants, 
individuals, businesses of differing sizes, 
and other entities (including State and 
local governmental entities), taking into ac-
count, to the extent practicable, the cumu-
lative costs of regulations; and 
‘‘(ii) evaluate whether the regulation 
is inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative 
of other Federal regulations. 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
addition, in making a reasoned determination of 
the costs and benefits of a potential regulation, 
the Council shall, to the extent that each is rel-
evant to the particular proposed regulation, 
take into consideration the impact of the regu-
lation on— 
‘‘(i) investor choice; 
‘‘(ii) market liquidity in the securities 
markets; 
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‘‘(iii) small businesses; 
‘‘(iv) economic growth; 
‘‘(v) cost and access to capital; 
‘‘(vi) market stability; 
‘‘(vii) global competitiveness; 
‘‘(viii) job creation; 
‘‘(ix) rate of inflation; and 
‘‘(x) employment levels. 
‘‘(3) EXPLANATION
AND
COMMENTS.—The 
Council shall explain in its final rule the nature of 
comments that it received, including those from the 
industry or consumer groups concerning the poten-
tial costs or benefits of the proposed rule or pro-
posed rule change, and shall provide a response to 
those comments in its final rule, including an expla-
nation of any changes that were made in response 
to those comments and the reasons that the Council 
did not incorporate those industry group concerns 
related to the potential costs or benefits in the final 
rule. 
‘‘(4) POST-ADOPTION IMPACT ASSESSMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Council 
adopts or amends a regulation designated as a 
‘major rule’ within the meaning of section 
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804(2) of title 5, United States Code, it shall 
state, in its adopting release, the following: 
‘‘(i) The purposes and intended con-
sequences of the regulation. 
‘‘(ii) Appropriate post-implementation 
quantitative and qualitative metrics to 
measure the economic impact of the regu-
lation and to measure the extent to which 
the regulation has accomplished the stated 
purposes. 
‘‘(iii) The assessment plan that will be 
used, consistent with the requirements of 
subparagraph (B), to assess whether the 
regulation has achieved the stated pur-
poses. 
‘‘(iv) Any reasonably foreseeable indi-
rect effects that may result from the regu-
lation. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS
OF
ASSESSMENT 
PLAN AND REPORT.— 
‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS OF PLAN.—The 
assessment plan required under this para-
graph shall consider the costs, benefits, 
and intended and unintended consequences 
of the regulation. The plan shall specify 
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the data to be collected, the methods for 
collection and analysis of the data and a 
date for completion of the assessment. The 
assessment plan shall include an analysis 
of any jobs added or lost as a result of the 
regulation, differentiating between public 
and private sector jobs. 
‘‘(ii) SUBMISSION
AND
PUBLICATION 
OF REPORT.—The Council shall, not later 
than 2 years after the publication of the 
adopting release, cause the assessment re-
port to be published in the Federal Reg-
ister for notice and comment. If the Coun-
cil determines, at least 90 days before such 
date, that an extension is necessary, the 
Council shall public a notice of such exten-
sion in the Federal Register, along with 
the specific reasons why the extension is 
necessary. Any material modification of the 
plan, as necessary to assess unforeseen as-
pects or consequences of the regulation, 
shall be promptly published in the Federal 
Register for notice and comment. 
‘‘(iii) DATA
COLLECTION
NOT
SUB-
JECT TO NOTICE AND COMMENT REQUIRE-
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MENTS.—If the Council has published its 
assessment plan for notice and comment, 
specifying the data to be collected and 
method of collection, at least 30 days prior 
to adoption of a final regulation or amend-
ment, such collection of data shall not be 
subject to the notice and comment require-
ments in section 3506(c) of title 44, 
United States Code (commonly referred to 
as the Paperwork Reduction Act). Any ma-
terial modifications of the plan that require 
collection of data not previously published 
for notice and comment shall also be ex-
empt from such requirements if the Coun-
cil has published notice for comment in the 
Federal Register of the additional data to 
be collected, at least 30 days prior to initi-
ation of data collection. 
‘‘(iv) FINAL ACTION.—Not later than 
180 days after publication of the assess-
ment report in the Federal Register, the 
Council shall issue for notice and comment 
a proposal to amend or rescind the regula-
tion, or publish a notice that the Council 
has determined that no action will be taken 
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on the regulation. Such a notice will be 
deemed a final agency action. 
‘‘(5) COVERED REGULATIONS AND OTHER AC-
TIONS.—Solely as used in this subsection, the term 
‘regulation’— 
‘‘(A) means a statement of general applica-
bility and future effect that is designed to im-
plement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or 
to describe the procedure or practice require-
ments of the Council, including rules, orders of 
general applicability, interpretive releases, and 
other statements of general applicability that 
the Council intends to have the force and effect 
of law; and 
‘‘(B) does not include— 
‘‘(i) a regulation issued in accordance 
with the formal rulemaking provisions of 
section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States 
Code; 
‘‘(ii) a regulation that is limited to the 
organization, management, or personnel 
matters of the Council; 
‘‘(iii) a regulation promulgated pursu-
ant to statutory authority that expressly 
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prohibits compliance with this provision; 
and 
‘‘(iv) a regulation that is certified by 
the Council to be an emergency action, if 
such certification is published in the Fed-
eral Register.’’. 
(b) ETHICS STANDARDS.—Section 1008 of the Fed-
eral Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 
1978 (12 U.S.C. 3305), as amended by subsection (a), is 
further amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) ETHICS STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITED AND RESTRICTED FINANCIAL 
INTERESTS AND TRANSACTIONS.—The members and 
employees of the Council shall be subject to the pro-
visions under section 4401.102 of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such pro-
visions apply to an employee of the Securities and 
Exchange Commission. 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT
OF
BROKERAGE
ACCOUNTS 
AND AVAILABILITY OF ACCOUNT STATEMENTS.—The 
members and employees of the Council shall— 
‘‘(A) disclose all brokerage accounts that 
they maintain, as well as those in which they 
control trading or have a financial interest (in-
cluding managed accounts, trust accounts, in-
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vestment club accounts, and the accounts of 
spouses or minor children who live with the 
member or employee); and 
‘‘(B) with respect to any securities account 
that the member or employee is required to dis-
close to the Council, authorize their brokers and 
dealers to send duplicate account statements di-
rectly to Council. 
‘‘(3) PROHIBITIONS RELATED TO OUTSIDE EM-
PLOYMENT AND ACTIVITIES.—The members and em-
ployees of the Council shall be subject to the prohibi-
tions related to outside employment and activities 
described under section 4401.103(c) of title 5, Code 
of Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such 
prohibitions apply to an employee of the Securities 
and Exchange Commission. 
‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL
ETHICS
STANDARDS.—The 
members and employees of the Council shall be sub-
ject to— 
‘‘(A) the employee responsibilities and con-
duct regulations of the Office of Personnel 
Management under part 735 of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations; 
‘‘(B) the canons of ethics contained in sub-
part C of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal 
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Regulations, to the same extent as such subpart 
applies to the employees of the Securities and 
Exchange Commission; and 
‘‘(C) the regulations concerning the con-
duct of members and employees and former 
members and employees contained in subpart M 
of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, to the same extent as such subpart ap-
plies to the employees of the Securities and Ex-
change Commission. 
‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES REQUIRED TO MAKE 
A PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.—For purposes of the 
financial disclosure requirements under part 2634 of title 
5, Code of Federal Regulations, an employee of the Coun-
cil shall be deemed a public filer if the employee is an 
attorney, accountant, examiner, auditor, investigator, or 
deals with information technology security. 
‘‘(g) DISCLOSURE OF STAFF SALARIES AND FINAN-
CIAL INFORMATION.—The Council shall make publicly 
available, on the website of the Council, a searchable data-
base that contains the names of all Members and employ-
ees of the Council, and— 
‘‘(1) the yearly salary information for such indi-
viduals, along with any non-salary compensation re-
ceived by such individuals; and 
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‘‘(2) any financial disclosures required to be 
made by such individuals.’’. 
SEC. 11. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL STABILITY 
OVERSIGHT COUNCIL. 
(a) ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.—Section 111 of the Finan-
cial Stability Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5321) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(k) CONSIDERATION OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before issuing any regula-
tion, the Council shall— 
‘‘(A) clearly identify the nature and source 
of the problem that the proposed regulation is 
designed to address, as well as assess the sig-
nificance of that problem, to enable assessment 
of whether any new regulation is warranted; 
‘‘(B) assess the costs and benefits, both 
qualitative and quantitative, of the intended 
regulation and propose or adopt a regulation 
only on a reasoned determination that the bene-
fits of the intended regulation outweigh the 
costs of the regulation; 
‘‘(C) identify and assess available alter-
natives to the regulation that were considered, 
including modification of an existing regulation, 
together with an explanation of why the regula-
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tion meets the regulatory objectives more effec-
tively than the alternatives; and 
‘‘(D) ensure that any regulation is acces-
sible, consistent, written in plain language, and 
easy to understand and shall measure, and seek 
to improve, the actual results of regulatory re-
quirements. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS AND ACTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIRED
ACTIONS.—In deciding 
whether and how to regulate, the Council shall 
assess the costs and benefits of available regu-
latory alternatives, including the alternative of 
not regulating, and choose the approach that 
maximizes net benefits. Specifically, the Council 
shall— 
‘‘(i) evaluate whether, consistent with 
obtaining regulatory objectives, the regula-
tion is tailored to impose the least burden 
on society, including market participants, 
individuals, businesses of differing sizes, 
and other entities (including State and 
local governmental entities), taking into ac-
count, to the extent practicable, the cumu-
lative costs of regulations; and 
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‘‘(ii) evaluate whether the regulation 
is inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative 
of other Federal regulations. 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
addition, in making a reasoned determination of 
the costs and benefits of a potential regulation, 
the Council shall, to the extent that each is rel-
evant to the particular proposed regulation, 
take into consideration the impact of the regu-
lation on— 
‘‘(i) investor choice; 
‘‘(ii) market liquidity in the securities 
markets; 
‘‘(iii) small businesses; 
‘‘(iv) economic growth; 
‘‘(v) cost and access to capital; 
‘‘(vi) market stability; 
‘‘(vii) global competitiveness; 
‘‘(viii) job creation; 
‘‘(ix) rate of inflation; and 
‘‘(x) employment levels. 
‘‘(3) EXPLANATION
AND
COMMENTS.—The 
Council shall explain in its final rule the nature of 
comments that it received, including those from the 
industry or consumer groups concerning the poten-
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tial costs or benefits of the proposed rule or pro-
posed rule change, and shall provide a response to 
those comments in its final rule, including an expla-
nation of any changes that were made in response 
to those comments and the reasons that the Council 
did not incorporate those industry group concerns 
related to the potential costs or benefits in the final 
rule. 
‘‘(4) POST-ADOPTION IMPACT ASSESSMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Council 
adopts or amends a regulation designated as a 
‘major rule’ within the meaning of section 
804(2) of title 5, United States Code, it shall 
state, in its adopting release, the following: 
‘‘(i) The purposes and intended con-
sequences of the regulation. 
‘‘(ii) Appropriate post-implementation 
quantitative and qualitative metrics to 
measure the economic impact of the regu-
lation and to measure the extent to which 
the regulation has accomplished the stated 
purposes. 
‘‘(iii) The assessment plan that will be 
used, consistent with the requirements of 
subparagraph (B), to assess whether the 
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regulation has achieved the stated pur-
poses. 
‘‘(iv) Any reasonably foreseeable indi-
rect effects that may result from the regu-
lation. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS
OF
ASSESSMENT 
PLAN AND REPORT.— 
‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS OF PLAN.—The 
assessment plan required under this para-
graph shall consider the costs, benefits, 
and intended and unintended consequences 
of the regulation. The plan shall specify 
the data to be collected, the methods for 
collection and analysis of the data and a 
date for completion of the assessment. The 
assessment plan shall include an analysis 
of any jobs added or lost as a result of the 
regulation, differentiating between public 
and private sector jobs. 
‘‘(ii) SUBMISSION
AND
PUBLICATION 
OF REPORT.—The Council shall, not later 
than 2 years after the publication of the 
adopting release, cause the assessment re-
port to be published in the Federal Reg-
ister for notice and comment. If the Coun-
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cil determines, at least 90 days before such 
date, that an extension is necessary, the 
Council shall public a notice of such exten-
sion in the Federal Register, along with 
the specific reasons why the extension is 
necessary. Any material modification of the 
plan, as necessary to assess unforeseen as-
pects or consequences of the regulation, 
shall be promptly published in the Federal 
Register for notice and comment. 
‘‘(iii) DATA
COLLECTION
NOT
SUB-
JECT TO NOTICE AND COMMENT REQUIRE-
MENTS.—If the Council has published its 
assessment plan for notice and comment, 
specifying the data to be collected and 
method of collection, at least 30 days prior 
to adoption of a final regulation or amend-
ment, such collection of data shall not be 
subject to the notice and comment require-
ments in section 3506(c) of title 44, 
United States Code (commonly referred to 
as the Paperwork Reduction Act). Any ma-
terial modifications of the plan that require 
collection of data not previously published 
for notice and comment shall also be ex-
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empt from such requirements if the Coun-
cil has published notice for comment in the 
Federal Register of the additional data to 
be collected, at least 30 days prior to initi-
ation of data collection. 
‘‘(iv) FINAL ACTION.—Not later than 
180 days after publication of the assess-
ment report in the Federal Register, the 
Council shall issue for notice and comment 
a proposal to amend or rescind the regula-
tion, or publish a notice that the Council 
has determined that no action will be taken 
on the regulation. Such a notice will be 
deemed a final agency action. 
‘‘(5) COVERED REGULATIONS AND OTHER AC-
TIONS.—Solely as used in this subsection, the term 
‘regulation’— 
‘‘(A) means a statement of general applica-
bility and future effect that is designed to im-
plement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or 
to describe the procedure or practice require-
ments of the Council, including rules, orders of 
general applicability, interpretive releases, and 
other statements of general applicability that 
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the Council intends to have the force and effect 
of law; and 
‘‘(B) does not include— 
‘‘(i) a regulation issued in accordance 
with the formal rulemaking provisions of 
section 556 or 557 of title 5, United States 
Code; 
‘‘(ii) a regulation that is limited to the 
organization, management, or personnel 
matters of the Council; 
‘‘(iii) a regulation promulgated pursu-
ant to statutory authority that expressly 
prohibits compliance with this provision; 
and 
‘‘(iv) a regulation that is certified by 
the Council to be an emergency action, if 
such certification is published in the Fed-
eral Register.’’. 
(b) ETHICS STANDARDS.—Section 111 of the Finan-
cial Stability Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5321), as amended 
by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(l) ETHICS STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITED AND RESTRICTED FINANCIAL 
INTERESTS AND TRANSACTIONS.—The members and 
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employees of the Council shall be subject to the pro-
visions under section 4401.102 of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such pro-
visions apply to an employee of the Securities and 
Exchange Commission. 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT
OF
BROKERAGE
ACCOUNTS 
AND AVAILABILITY OF ACCOUNT STATEMENTS.—The 
members and employees of the Council shall— 
‘‘(A) disclose all brokerage accounts that 
they maintain, as well as those in which they 
control trading or have a financial interest (in-
cluding managed accounts, trust accounts, in-
vestment club accounts, and the accounts of 
spouses or minor children who live with the 
member or employee); and 
‘‘(B) with respect to any securities account 
that the member or employee is required to dis-
close to the Council, authorize their brokers and 
dealers to send duplicate account statements di-
rectly to Council. 
‘‘(3) PROHIBITIONS RELATED TO OUTSIDE EM-
PLOYMENT AND ACTIVITIES.—The members and em-
ployees of the Council shall be subject to the prohibi-
tions related to outside employment and activities 
described under section 4401.103(c) of title 5, Code 
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of Federal Regulations, to the same extent as such 
prohibitions apply to an employee of the Securities 
and Exchange Commission. 
‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL
ETHICS
STANDARDS.—The 
members and employees of the Council shall be sub-
ject to— 
‘‘(A) the employee responsibilities and con-
duct regulations of the Office of Personnel 
Management under part 735 of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations; 
‘‘(B) the canons of ethics contained in sub-
part C of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal 
Regulations, to the same extent as such subpart 
applies to the employees of the Securities and 
Exchange Commission; and 
‘‘(C) the regulations concerning the con-
duct of members and employees and former 
members and employees contained in subpart M 
of part 200 of title 17, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, to the same extent as such subpart ap-
plies to the employees of the Securities and Ex-
change Commission. 
‘‘(m) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES REQUIRED TO MAKE 
A PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.—For purposes of the 
financial disclosure requirements under part 2634 of title 
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5, Code of Federal Regulations, an employee of the Coun-
cil shall be deemed a public filer if the employee is an 
attorney, accountant, examiner, auditor, investigator, or 
deals with information technology security. 
‘‘(n) DISCLOSURE OF STAFF SALARIES AND FINAN-
CIAL INFORMATION.—The Council shall make publicly 
available, on the website of the Council, a searchable data-
base that contains the names of all Members and employ-
ees of the Council, and— 
‘‘(1) the yearly salary information for such indi-
viduals, along with any non-salary compensation re-
ceived by such individuals; and 
‘‘(2) any financial disclosures required to be 
made by such individuals.’’. 
Æ 
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