The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the insurer of Americans’ bank accounts, is promising an open door policy when it begins the arduous task of creating rules under the sweeping Wall Street reform law signed by President Obama last month.
The FDIC said the new policy will go beyond what is required already under existing procedural law.
FDIC officials say the process with greater transparency will include:
- Webcasts of a series of roundtable discussions with “external parties” on reform implementation issues.
- The ability for “any interested party” to request a meeting with FDIC officials or staff by submitting a form that will be provided on the FDIC’s webpage.
- A bi-weekly release of the names and affiliations of private-sector individuals who meet with FDIC officials to discuss reform rule-making.
- A subscription service enabling the public to be alerted to any major developments.
The FDIC, which already oversees U.S. bank failures, plays a key role under provisions in the new reform law to protect the viability of the U.S. financial system.
Federal regulators will have the power to seize and dismantle faltering financial firms deemed to have the potential effect of pulling down other major firms. The FDIC will oversee the liquidation process.
Taxpayers might have to pay upfront costs, but the FDIC would have the power to recover break-up costs by levying fees on financial firms with more than $50 billion in assets.
“Now that Congress has acted and the President has signed the bill into law, it is in the regulators’ ballpark to implement the new reforms as quickly and openly as possible,” FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair said in a statement. “I think transparency is a significant issue for each step along the way. We owe it to the public to have an open door policy so that people can see for themselves how financial services reform is going to be implemented.”
