WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Thom Tillis recently led all Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee in sending a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell calling for transparency regarding the upcoming consideration of capital requirement changes borne out of Vice Chair Michael Barr’s “holistic review.” 

While portions of Barr’s plan for new capital requirements are expected on July 27, the Senators noted that “it is highly concerning that the Board may soon initiate this process and vote on a set of policy changes stemming from the ‘holistic review’ while neither have been made available for evaluation.”

The Senators also flagged a number of claims recently made by Vice Chair Barr that remain unsubstantiated by any publicly-released analysis and called on Chair Powell to commit to a number of good governance measures “to ensure any alteration to our current capital standards framework is conducted in a manner that emphasizes the transparency and proper deliberation it is due.” 

“As a proposal is expected soon, failure to afford Board members and nominees the necessary time to undertake a requisite review and make an informed decision would be quite troublesome and undercut the credibility of the regulatory process,” the Senators wrote. “Likewise, it is especially important for Congress to understand the rationale and see the underlying analysis which should naturally accompany any regulatory changes, especially ones as significant as those proposed by Vice Chair Barr.”

In addition to Senator Tillis, the letter was signed by Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), John Kennedy (R-LA), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Katie Britt (R-AL), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Steve Daines (R-MT). 

Read the full letter to Chair Powell here. 

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