Washington, D.C. – Last week, Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, led 23 Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee in a letter to Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell demanding transparency regarding an August 30 leak of nonpublic confidential supervisory information (CSI) involving multiple financial firms. The lawmakers have reason to believe that the leak came from within the Federal Reserve or agencies with whom the CSI was shared and are requesting that the Fed provide additional details to ensure accountability. Read the full letter here. Read excerpts from the letter below.
“We write to express our concerns about leaks of confidential, market-moving information from your agency regarding supervisory and regulatory plans and actions.
“On July 17, 2023, ten days prior to your agency issuing notices of proposed rulemakings (NPRs), details of the proposals were reported in the press. Those details unveiled significant and accurate aspects of the NPRs, including information sought by members of the Financial Services Committee prior to publication that was not provided to the Committee.
“On August 30, 2023, confidential supervisory information (CSI) was revealed in the press. Included in those press reports are details of CSI, identified by firm name, on regulatory warnings labeled matters requiring attention (MRAs) and matters requiring immediate attention (MRIAs). Press reports sourced the nonpublic CSI information that was inappropriately revealed to ‘people familiar with the matter.’
“In our mind, it is unlikely ‘those people familiar with the matter’ are from each of the individual firms listed in the press reports. Equally unlikely is that the press reports involve unsubstantiated speculation by reporters. We are concerned that the leaks may be from within your agency or other agencies with whom you shared the CSI. Any leak of CSI, especially tied to individual firms’ identities, would be a revelation of highly market-sensitive information.”