Hearing will look at ‘financial stability’ with emphasis on role of FSOC

“Financial stability” – with a focus on the body established in the wake of the financial crisis to coordinate regulatory efforts to ensure stability – will be the topic of testimony from a Federal Reserve Board governor during a House hearing Wednesday on assessing threats to the U.S. financial system.

The director of the Treasury’s financial research arm will also offer views.

Fed Board Gov. Lael Brainard is scheduled to testify before the House subcommittee on consumer protection and financial institutions. Office of Financial Research (OFR) Director Dino Falaschetti is also set to testify.

According to the subcommittee, the hearing will look at the Financial Services Oversight Council (FSOC, on which the OFR director and Federal Reserve chairman both sit, as well as the leaders of eight other agencies, including the federal financial institution regulators). According to the committee memo about the hearing, FSOC was established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) to “close regulatory gaps exposed by the 2007-2009 financial crisis and strengthen efforts to identify and mitigate threats to financial stability.”

The hearing will also review OFR’s and the Federal Reserve’s most recent financial stability reports, as well as consider legislative proposals to promote financial stability.

Three bills are on the subcommittee’s radar for consideration as well, all aimed at mandating funding and staffing levels for the FSOC.

The hearing is scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m.

Promoting Financial Stability: Assessing Threats to the U.S. Financial System