McCaskill Introduces Amendment To Increase Oversight Of Wall Street

Press Release

As the Senate begins consideration of Wall Street reform legislation, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today continued her work to empower government watchdogs by introducing an amendment to improve coordination between the Inspectors General (IGs) who oversee financial institutions. The measure would connect existing financial agency IGs through a Council of Inspectors General on Financial Oversight (CIGFO).

"Part of the reason we got into this mess in the first place was that the financial oversight agencies that were supposed to oversee Wall Street weren't doing their jobs," McCaskill said. "This amendment will strengthen the communication between the government watchdogs who are crucial to keeping financial agencies in line."

The council would be required to hold meetings at least once every quarter and prepare an annual report to Congress and the Financial Stability Oversight Council on concerns and recommendations to improve financial oversight. Additionally, the Council would also be authorized to investigate financial institutions that fail.

Specifically, the IGs included in the council would be from the following agencies:

* Department of the Treasury, Chair of the Council
* Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
* Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
* National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
* Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
* Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
* Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
* Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
* Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP) [as long as this office exists]

McCaskill, a former state auditor, has worked tirelessly to promote and empower Inspectors General in the federal government. The first bill she introduced as a senator was The Inspectors General Act of 2007, which was signed into law and is increasing the independence of IGs throughout the government.

A provision similar to what McCaskill is now offering as an amendment to the Senate Wall Street reform bill was included in the House-passed version of Wall Street reform (H.R. 4173) by Congressmen Dennis Moore (D-KS) and Stephen Lynch (D-MA).

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