12 U.S.C. § 5233 — Congressional Oversight Panel
submitted 18 years ago by Pub. L. 110-343 to r/title-12-BANKS-AND-BANKING · 1,124 words · no verdicts yet
This section establishes the Congressional Oversight Panel and describes its reports, membership, powers, staffing, funding, and termination. It requires recurring reports on TARP and special reports on regulation and farm-loan restructuring.
(a) An Oversight Panel is established in the legislative branch. (b) It reviews financial markets and regulation and reports to Congress. (1)(A) Regular reports cover the Secretary's authority use, contracting and administration; effects of purchases on markets and institutions; whether transaction information improved transparency; and foreclosure-mitigation effectiveness, long-term taxpayer-cost reduction, and taxpayer benefits. (B) Reports begin within 30 days after the first use of section 5211(a) or 5212 authority and every 30 days thereafter. (2) By January 20, 2009, it must report on regulatory reform, including regulatory effectiveness, consumer* protection, whether currently unregulated market participants should be regulated and why, and gaps in consumer protection. (3) Within 60 days after May 20, 2009, it must report on farm-loan restructuring, analyzing commercial farm credit* and restructuring as a foreclosure alternative for TARP* recipients and examining and recommending methods, including Farm Service Agency, farm-credit-system, and Making Home Affordable methods. (c) Membership. The Panel has five members: one appointed by the House Speaker, one by the House minority leader, one by the Senate majority leader, one by the Senate minority leader, and one jointly by the Speaker and Senate majority leader after consultation with both minority leaders. Members receive the daily equivalent of Executive Schedule level I pay for days spent performing duties, but full-time Federal employees and Members of Congress receive no extra pay or benefits. Members receive authorized travel expenses and per diem. Four members make a quorum, though fewer may hold hearings. Vacancies are filled like the original appointment, and meetings occur when called by the Chair or a majority. (d) The Panel may appoint and pay staff, obtain temporary experts and consultants, and request reimbursable details of Federal personnel. (e) It may hold hearings, take testimony and evidence, administer oaths, and authorize members or agents to act for it. It may obtain needed Federal information directly, receive all reports required under this chapter, and require agency heads to provide requested information. (f) It ends 6 months after the termination date in section 5230. (g) Congress may appropriate needed sums, half from the House account and half from the Senate contingent fund*. The Secretary* must reimburse those accounts for Panel expenses when its Chair presents a statement.
There is hereby established the Congressional Oversight Panel (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Oversight Panel”) as an establishment in the legislative branch.
The Oversight Panel shall review the current state* of the financial markets and the regulatory system and submit the following reports to Congress:
Regular reports of the Oversight Panel shall include the following:
The use by the Secretary* of authority under this chapter, including with respect to the use of contracting authority and administration of the program.
The impact of purchases made under the 1 chapter on the financial markets and financial institutions.
The extent to which the information made available on transactions under the program has contributed to market transparency.
The effectiveness of foreclosure mitigation efforts, and the effectiveness of the program from the standpoint of minimizing long-term costs to the taxpayers and maximizing the benefits for taxpayers.
The reports required under this paragraph shall be submitted not later than 30 days after the first exercise by the Secretary of the authority under section 5211(a) or 5212 of this title, and every 30 days thereafter.
The Oversight Panel shall submit a special report on regulatory reform not later than January 20, 2009, analyzing the current state of the regulatory system and its effectiveness at overseeing the participants in the financial system and protecting consumers, and providing recommendations for improvement, including recommendations regarding whether any participants in the financial markets that are currently outside the regulatory system should become subject to the regulatory system, the rationale underlying such recommendation, and whether there are any gaps in existing consumer* protections.
Not later than 60 days after May 20, 2009, the Oversight Panel shall submit a special report on farm loan restructuring that—
analyzes the state of the commercial farm credit* markets and the use of loan restructuring as an alternative to foreclosure by recipients of financial assistance under the Troubled Asset Relief Program; and
includes an examination of and recommendation on the different methods for farm loan restructuring that could be used as part of a foreclosure mitigation program for farm loans made by recipients of financial assistance under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, including any programs for direct loan restructuring or modification carried out by the Farm Service Agency of the Department of Agriculture, the farm credit system, and the Making Home Affordable Program of the Department of the Treasury.
The Oversight Panel shall consist of 5 members, as follows:
1 member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
1 member appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives.
1 member appointed by the majority leader of the Senate.
1 member appointed by the minority leader of the Senate.
1 member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the majority leader of the Senate, after consultation with the minority leader of the Senate and the minority leader of the House of Representatives.
Each member of the Oversight Panel shall each 2 be paid at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay for level I of the Executive Schedule for each day (including travel time) during which such member is engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the Commission.
Members of the Oversight Panel who are full-time officers or employees of the United States or Members of Congress may not receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of their service on the Oversight Panel.
Each member shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5.
Four members of the Oversight Panel shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may hold hearings.
A vacancy on the Oversight Panel shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made.
The Oversight Panel shall meet at the call of the Chairperson or a majority of its members.
The Oversight Panel may appoint and fix the pay of any personnel as the Commission considers appropriate.
The Oversight Panel may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5.
Upon request of the Oversight Panel, the head of any Federal department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of that department or agency to the Oversight Panel to assist it in carrying out its duties under this chapter.
The Oversight Panel may, for the purpose of carrying out this section, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the Panel considers appropriate and may administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before it.
Any member or agent of the Oversight Panel may, if authorized by the Oversight Panel, take any action which the Oversight Panel is authorized to take by this section.
The Oversight Panel may secure directly from any department or agency of the United States information necessary to enable it to carry out this section. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Oversight Panel, the head of that department or agency shall furnish that information to the Oversight Panel.
The Oversight Panel shall receive and consider all reports required to be submitted to the Oversight Panel under this chapter.
The Oversight Panel shall terminate 6 months after the termination date specified in section 5230 of this title.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Oversight Panel such sums as may be necessary for any fiscal year, half of which shall be derived from the applicable account of the House of Representatives, and half of which shall be derived from the contingent fund* of the Senate.
An amount equal to the expenses of the Oversight Panel shall be promptly transferred by the Secretary, from time to time upon the presentment of a statement of such expenses by the Chairperson of the Oversight Panel, from funds made available to the Secretary under this chapter to the applicable fund of the House of Representatives and the contingent fund of the Senate, as appropriate, as reimbursement for amounts expended from such account and fund under paragraph (1).
Source credit: (Pub. L. 110–343, div. A, title I, § 125, Oct. 3, 2008, 122 Stat. 3791; Pub. L. 111–22, div. A, title V, § 501, May 20, 2009, 123 Stat. 1658.)
- 2008Enacted · Pub. L. 110-343 · 122 Stat. 3791
- 2009Amended · Pub. L. 111-22 · 123 Stat. 1658
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 110-343 on 2008-10-03.
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