HR 3173119th CongressIn Committee

Federal Reserve Financial Accountability and Transparency Act

Introduced: May 1, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Federal Reserve Financial Accountability and Transparency Act would amend the Federal Reserve Act to add new reporting requirements to the annual report of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Specifically, it would require the Fed to disclose, for each Federal Reserve Bank and the Board, detailed budget and staffing information across several categories (such as supervision, legal, operations, financial stability/open market operations, administration, economic research, and international engagements). It would also require identifying the three most important research areas by spending and staffing for both the Board and each Fed Bank, and to report annual expenditures on each rule, guidance, and policy statement that was proposed or finalized. The changes would take effect two years after enactment. Overall, the bill aims to increase transparency and accountability around the Fed’s spending, staffing, research priorities, and regulatory actions.

Key Points

1Adds new mandatory content to the annual report submitted by the Board of Governors (and applicable to each Federal Reserve Bank) by reorganizing the 7th undesignated paragraph of section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act, effectively expanding what must be reported each year.
2Requires a category-by-category breakdown of annual expenditures and full-time equivalent employees (FTE) for each Federal Reserve Bank and the Board across seven areas: (I) supervision activities of financial institutions, (II) legal functions, (III) operations (currency services, ACH, check clearing, wholesale payments), (IV) financial stability and open market operations, (V) administrative functions (HR, accounting, IT), (VI) economic research, (VII) engagements with international bodies (e.g., BIS, Basel Committee, NGFS).
3Must identify the three most important research areas, measured by expenditures and FTE, for both the Board and each Federal Reserve Bank.
4Requires disclosure of annual expenditures in the prior year dedicated to each rule, guidance, and policy statement that was proposed or finalized.
5Effective date: These amendments take effect two years after the date of enactment.

Impact Areas

Primary: The Board of Governors and the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, which would need to collect, organize, and publish more granular budget, staffing, research, and regulatory-action data.Secondary: Congress and the general public, who would gain greater transparency into the Fed’s operations, research priorities, and regulatory actions.Additional impacts: Potential administrative burden and data-collection costs for the Federal Reserve System; possible increased public and market scrutiny of budgeting decisions, research allocations, and regulatory actions. The public release of detailed expenditure and FTE data could influence accountability discussions and policy debates around the Fed’s activities and resource allocation.

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