Congressman Gregory W. Meeks Amendment to Section 131 of House Offer to Title I Passes in House Financial Services Committee

(WASHINGTON, DC)– Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (NY-6), Senior Member of the House Committee on Financial Services and Chairman of its Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade, offered an amendment to Section 131 of the House offer on Title I that passed in the House Financial Services Committee today.

The section of the bill that this amendment refers to calls for the Fed to conduct a study of the effects of size and complexity of financial institutions on capital market efficiency and economic growth no later than 180 days after passage of this bill. This amendment calls for this study, and the report to Congress that will accompany its completion, to be a recurring event at least once every five years.

“The report from the study will allow Congress to be better informed of changes to the structure and composition of the financial market, which will enable members to legislate more effectively on matters pertaining to systemic risks. My amendment calls for the study to be done once every five years, enabling regulators and Congress to have the most up to date information about the influence that the largest, most complex and interconnected financial institutions have on financial markets,” stated Congressman Meeks.

The amendment calls for the study to be updated only once every five years because it pertains to a high-level analysis of the structure and composition of the players in the financial sector, and the influence they may have on how it operates, and how the broader economy operates.

Congressman Meeks added, “it’s important that we update our understanding of where systemic risks lie in the financial industry on a regular basis.”

Now serving in his sixth full-term, Meeks was elected to the House on February 3, 1998. Representing New York's Sixth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, Meeks' district covers all towns of Southeast Queens, Far Rockaway and Howard Beach. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Congressman Meeks is the Chairman of the International Monetary Policy & Trade Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. He is a Member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), New Democrats Coalition and the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). He serves as the Co-chair of the Malaysia Caucus, Services Caucus, Dialogue Caucus, OAS Caucus and the Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus.