12 U.S.C. § 5496a — Annual audits

Page 1951 TITLE 12—BANKS AND BANKING § 5496b meetings of the Consumer Advisory Board, in- cluding travel time; and (2) be allowed travel expenses, including transportation and subsistence, while away from their homes or regular places of business. (Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1014, July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1974.) § 5495. Coordination The Bureau shall coordinate with the Commis- sion, the Commodity Futures Trading Commis- sion, the Federal Trade Commission, and other Federal agencies and State regulators, as appro- priate, to promote consistent regulatory treat- ment of consumer financial and investment products and services. (Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1015, July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1974.) § 5496. Appearances before and reports to Con- gress (a) Appearances before Congress The Director of the Bureau shall appear before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Fi- nancial Services and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives at semi-annual hearings regarding the reports required under subsection (b). (b) Reports required The Bureau shall, concurrent with each semi- annual hearing referred to in subsection (a), pre- pare and submit to the President and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af- fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Finan- cial Services and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, a re- port, beginning with the session following the designated transfer date. The Bureau may also submit such report to the Committee on Com- merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen- ate. (c) Contents The reports required by subsection (b) shall in- clude— (1) a discussion of the significant problems faced by consumers in shopping for or obtain- ing consumer financial products or services; (2) a justification of the budget request of the previous year; (3) a list of the significant rules and orders adopted by the Bureau, as well as other sig- nificant initiatives conducted by the Bureau, during the preceding year and the plan of the Bureau for rules, orders, or other initiatives to be undertaken during the upcoming period; (4) an analysis of complaints about con- sumer financial products or services that the Bureau has received and collected in its cen- tral database on complaints during the pre- ceding year; (5) a list, with a brief statement of the issues, of the public supervisory and enforce- ment actions to which the Bureau was a party during the preceding year; (6) the actions taken regarding rules, orders, and supervisory actions with respect to cov- ered persons which are not credit unions or de- pository institutions; (7) an assessment of significant actions by State attorneys general or State regulators re- lating to Federal consumer financial law; (8) an analysis of the efforts of the Bureau to fulfill the fair lending mission of the Bureau; and (9) an analysis of the efforts of the Bureau to increase workforce and contracting diversity consistent with the procedures established by the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. (Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1016, July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1974.) § 5496a. Annual audits (a) Annual independent audit The Bureau shall order an annual independent audit of the operations and budget of the Bu- reau. (b) Annual GAO audit The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an annual audit of the Bureau’s fi- nancial statements in accordance with generally accepted government accounting standards. (Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1016A, as added Pub. L. 112–10, div. B, title V, § 1573(a), Apr. 15, 2011, 125 Stat. 138.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries INITIAL AUDITS Pub. L. 112–10, div. B, title V, § 1573(c), Apr. 15, 2011, 125 Stat. 139, provided that the initial audits under this section were to be completed not later than the end of the 180-day period beginning on Apr. 15, 2011. § 5496b. GAO study of financial regulations (a) Study Not later than the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study of financial services regulations, including activities of the Bureau. Such study shall in- clude an analysis of— (1) the impact of regulation on the financial marketplace, including the effects on the safe- ty and soundness of regulated entities, cost and availability of credit, savings realized by consumers, reductions in consumer paperwork burden, changes in personal and small busi- ness bankruptcy filings, and costs of compli- ance with rules, including whether relevant Federal agencies are applying sound cost-ben- efit analysis in promulgating rules; (2) efforts to avoid duplicative or conflicting rulemakings, including an evaluation of the consultative process under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 5512(b)(2) of this title, infor- mation requests, and examinations; and (3) other matters related to the operations of financial services regulations deemed by the Comptroller General to be appropriate. (b) Report Not later than the end of the 30-day period fol- lowing the completion of a study conducted pur- suant to subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall issue a report to the Congress containing a detailed description of all findings and conclu-