The Bank Policy Institute, the American Bankers Association, the Financial Services Forum, the Institute of International Bankers, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are writing with respect to the joint proposed rulemaking amending the capital requirements applicable to large banking organizations. The proposed regulations would significantly increase capital requirements for larger banks. Yet in support of these substantial new requirements, the proposed rule repeatedly relies on data and analyses that the agencies have not made available to the public.
This reliance on non-public information violates clear requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act that agencies must publicly disclose the data and analyses on which their rulemaking is based. To remedy this violation, the agencies must make available the various types of missing material identified below—along with any and all other evidence and analyses the agencies relied on in proposing the rule—and re-propose the rule. To remain consistent with what the agencies themselves have determined to be an “appropriate” comment period, the agencies should provide for a new 120-day comment period in the re-proposal. Absent a formal re-proposal, and at a minimum, the agencies must extend the comment period to no sooner than 120 days after the date on which the agencies disclose all necessary information.
