The SEC Regulatory Accountability Act is even more needed for the case of Fed / FDIC bank regulations
The SEC Regulatory Accountability Act, sponsored by Financial Services Committee member Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), passed 243-184.
Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee explained it:
“Ill-advised laws like the Dodd-Frank Act empower unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to callously hand down crushing regulations without adequately considering what impact those regulations have on jobs…The true cost of Washington red tape includes the jobs not created, the small businesses not started and the dreams of our children not fulfilled.”
Now under the bill, before issuing a regulation the SEC will be required to:
identify the nature and source of the problem its proposed regulation is meant to address;
utilize the SEC’s Chief Economist to assess the costs and benefits of a proposed regulation to ensure the benefits justify the costs;
identify and assess available alternatives; and
ensure that any regulations are consistent and written in plain language.
Further, the legislation requires the SEC to engage in a retrospective review of its regulations every five years and conduct post-adoption impact assessments of major rules.
What great news! Not a moment too soon. Now the Financial Services Committee needs to, as fast as possible, issue a similar bill with respect to the regulations applied by the Fed and FDIC to the banks… because in their case they never even defined the purpose of banks before regulating these.
The current risk weighted capital requirements for banks are totally senseless.
Not only has regulators no business regulating based on perceived risks already cleared for by banks, as they should primarily require some capital reserves to face uncertainties, but these regulations also cause banks to no longer finance the “riskier” future but mainly refinance the “safer” present and past, at great costs for the real economy and for future generations.
Here are some questions I have not been able to have regulators to answer; perhaps the Financial Service Committee needs not to go on a hunger strike to manage that.
Posts
