US Senate Moves To Increase Oversight Of Federal Reserve
07 May 2009 - 5:35AM
Dow Jones News
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved an amendment that would
partially reverse the long-time restriction barring the Government
Accountability Office from auditing the Federal Reserve.
The measure would allow the government watchdog to audit the Fed
when it comes to actions the central bank took under its emergency
authority that relate to a specific company or partnership.
For example, the GAO would be able to probe the Fed's moves to
facilitate the fire sale of Bear Stearns and to prop up American
International Group Inc. (AIG). But it would not be able to
investigate the various Fed programs that bolster a broad swath of
companies, such as the Term Asset-backed liquidity facility or its
backstop for the commercial-paper market.
The GAO has been barred from auditing the Fed for about 30
years.
-By Jessica Holzer, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9228;
jessica.holzer@dowjones.com