Congress demands sunlight on secret banking rules written overseas

What it does

This bill requires the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC to submit annual reports to Congress detailing their participation in the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision—including who attends meetings, what problems are being addressed, what standards are being considered, and how they will be implemented. The agencies must also notify Congress within 30 days of any significant changes to planned activities, including meeting results and the positions taken by U.S. representatives. The Fed's leadership must include these details in their annual congressional testimony.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to mandate disclosure and congressional notification of Federal Reserve and banking regulator participation in international Basel Committee proceedings. It is a transparency and accountability measure, not a substantive change to banking regulation itself.

What the text implies

• Increased congressional scrutiny of Basel Committee participation may slow or complicate U.S. adoption of international banking standards, potentially creating regulatory divergence from global peers.
• The 30-day notification requirement for 'significant changes' may create ambiguity about what constitutes 'significant,' potentially leading to disputes over disclosure timeliness.
• Mandatory disclosure of U.S. representative positions at Basel meetings could reduce negotiating flexibility and create political pressure on regulators during international discussions.
• The requirement to disclose 'proposed standards' and 'options likely to be considered' before final decisions may expose regulatory deliberation to industry lobbying earlier in the process.

Who it affects

Ordinary citizens benefit from increased transparency and congressional oversight of international banking standards that directly affect U.S. financial regulation, consumer protections, and systemic risk. The bill does not impose costs on the public; it simply requires disclosure of activities that already occur but are currently opaque to elected representatives and the public.

Named in the bill

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Secretary of the Treasury, Basel Committee on Bank Supervision, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, House Committee on Financial Services

Where it stands

• Mar 11, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Mar 11, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,085,758 in lobbying spend. A filing names 127 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

John Kennedy, the sponsor, reported $113,800 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies — $1,005,758 on 2 filings
• Gowest Credit Union Association — $80,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.