Stress Testing Accountability and Transparency Act

Stress Testing Accountability and Transparency Act

This bill requires the Federal Reserve Board to make public certain details concerning annual stress tests performed by the board and prohibits certain stress test practices. (Stress tests assess a financial institution’s response to a hypothetical disruptive economic event. The board sets an institution’s capital requirements or stress capital buffer based on the results.) 

Specifically, the bill requires the board to issue a rule that establishes the models, assumptions, and methods used by the board to perform annual stress tests on certain nonbank financial companies and large bank holding companies. The board must also issue a rule determining the stress capital buffer requirement for certain companies that have at least two results from periodic stress tests. In addition, the board must disclose annually each scenario to be used in stress testing.

Further, the board is prohibited from materially changing stress test methodologies outside of the rulemaking process. The board must also ensure that stress capital buffer requirements and risk-based capital requirements do not contain capital requirements for the same risks. The board is also prohibited from performing climate-related stress tests. 

The Government Accountability Office must report on the effectiveness of the stress tests every three years.