View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT BOARD

Page 1

Minutes of the Financial Stability Oversight Board Meeting
October 22, 2008
A meeting of the Financial
Stability Oversight Board (“Board”) was
held at the offices of the United States
Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”)
on Wednesday, October 22, 2008, at
11:00 a.m. (EDT).

Mr. Cartwright, General Counsel,
Securities and Exchange Commission

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mr. Kroeker, Deputy Chief Accountant
for Accounting, Office of the Chief
Accountant, Securities and Exchange
Commission

Mr. Bernanke, Chairperson
Mr. Paulson
Mr. Cox
Mr. Preston
Mr. Lockhart
STAFF PRESENT:
Mr. Treacy, Executive Director
Mr. Fallon, General Counsel
Mr. Gonzalez, Secretary

Mr. Sirri, Director, Division of Trading
and Markets, Securities and
Exchange Commission

Mr. Montgomery, Assistant Secretary for
Housing and Commissioner of the
Federal Housing Administration,
Department of Housing and Urban
Development
Mr. Borchert, Senior Advisor to the
Secretary of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development

AGENCY OFFICIALS PRESENT:
Mr. Kashkari, Interim Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury for
Financial Stability and
Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury for International
Economics and Development

Mr. DeMarco, Chief Operating Officer
and Deputy Director for Housing
Mission and Goals, Federal Housing
Finance Agency
GUESTS PRESENT FOR A PORTION
OF THE MEETING:

Mr. Hoyt, General Counsel,
Department of the Treasury

Ms. Bair, Chairperson, Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation

Mr. Swagel, Assistant Secretary for
Economic Policy, Department of the
Treasury

Ms. McInerney, Deputy General Counsel,
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation

Mr. Wilcox, Deputy Director,
Division of Research and
Statistics, Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System

Mr. Brown, Associate Director, Division
of Insurance and Research, Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation

FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT BOARD

Page 2

Chairperson Bernanke called the
meeting to order at 11:05 am (EDT).

made, seconded and unanimously carried,
it was:

The Board first considered draft
minutes for the meetings of the Board on
October 7, and October 13, 2008, which
had been circulated in advance of the
meeting. Following a discussion of the
minutes, and upon a motion duly made
and seconded, the Members unanimously
voted to approve the minutes of the
meetings held on October 7, and
October 13, 2008, subject to such
technical amendments as may be received
from the Members.

Resolved, that the Board approve and
adopt the Amended and Restated Bylaws
as presented to the Board.”

Using written materials provided
in advance of the meeting, Chairperson
Bernanke then discussed the proposal to
adopt amended and restated bylaws for
the Board. Chairperson Bernanke
indicated that the only change proposed to
the bylaws would allow appointment of
an Executive Director and a General
Counsel of the Board, in addition to the
currently authorized position of Secretary,
to assist the Board in fulfilling its
responsibilities. Following a discussion
of the proposed bylaws, the Members
unanimously adopted the following
resolution:
RESOLUTION TO ADOPT AMENDED
AND RESTATED BYLAWS
“Whereas, there is presented to the
Board, Amended and Restated Bylaws
that describe the organizational structure
of the Board and establish the general
operational procedures by which the
Board will carry out its oversight
functions and duties,
Therefore, after discussion among the
Board Members and on motion duly

Chairperson Bernanke then
discussed his intention to appoint
William J. Treacy, Kieran J. Fallon and
Jason A. Gonzalez to fill the positions of
Executive Director, General Counsel and
Secretary of the Board, respectively.
Information concerning the proposed
individuals had been circulated in
advance of the meeting. At the
Chairperson’s request and without
objection, the following statement was
entered into the record:
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRPERSON
TO APPOINT STAFF OF THE
FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT
BOARD
“I hereby appoint the following
individuals to the staff positions of the
Financial Stability Oversight Board, as
authorized by the Amended and Restated
Bylaws of the Oversight Board:
William F. Treacy, as
Executive Director of the Board;
Kieran J. Fallon, as General
Counsel of the Board; and
Jason A. Gonzalez,
Secretary of the Board.”

as

Mr. Paulson and other Treasury
officials, using materials circulated at the
meeting, then provided a briefing
concerning recent and proposed actions
by Treasury under the Troubled Asset
Relief Program (“TARP”) and related

FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT BOARD
provisions of the Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act of 2008 (“EESA”) to
help promote stability in the U.S.
financial system. Throughout this
briefing, Members discussed various
aspects of the TARP and Treasury’s
progress in implementing the TARP.
The briefing and discussion
initially focused on the capital purchase
program established by Treasury under
the TARP to provide financial stability
and increase the flow of financing to U.S.
businesses and consumers. Treasury
officials described the status and likely
timing of the capital purchases under the
program, recent vendor hirings to assist in
the implementation of the program, and
the efforts by Treasury to establish the
terms under which privately held financial
institutions and institutions organized as
S-corporations or in mutual form could
participate in the program. Treasury
officials also described the manner in
which the executive compensation
provisions of the EESA were being
applied to institutions participating in the
capital purchase program. In addition,
Members discussed the potential for
widening the classes of financial
institutions eligible to participate in the
capital purchase program.
The briefing and discussion then
turned to the purchase programs under
development for mortgage-backed
securities (“MBS”) and whole loans,
including the types of assets that would be
the most effective for the TARP to
purchase and the methods for purchasing
such assets. Members also discussed the
consultants and advisers that Treasury had
retained to assist in the development of
auction-based procedures for the purchase
of MBS and whole loans, as well as the

Page 3
status of proposals to hire auction and
asset managers.
Members and Treasury officials
also discussed the status of potential
programs to insure troubled assets under
section 102 of EESA. Treasury officials
and Members of the Board also discussed
the timeline for funding TARP programs,
including the timing and process for
requesting an increase in the amount of
authorized purchases in accordance with
section 115 of EESA.
Treasury officials then briefed the
Members concerning the procurement
process being used by Treasury to request
bids from, screen and retain private firms
to assist in the implementation of the
TARP. Treasury officials informed the
Board that the procurement process
involved permanent procurement staff and
ethics counsel from Treasury, as well as
an on-site review of each vendor once a
contract is signed. Members and
Treasury officials also discussed the roles
of the Special Inspector General and
Government Accountability Office in
overseeing the TARP and the potential for
the Oversight Board to coordinate its
activities with the activities of these
organizations.
Treasury officials and Members
also discussed the process for identifying
and retaining permanent officials of the
TARP to replace the interim officials
currently in place.
At the invitation of the Board,
Ms. Bair and the other guests from the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) then joined the meeting. A
discussion occurred concerning potential
ways for the U.S. government to assist atrisk mortgage borrowers and reduce

FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT BOARD

Page 4

avoidable foreclosures. Ms. Bair
described one method under which the
U.S. government could encourage the
modification of troubled mortgages
modeled on a loan modification process
currently being employed by the FDIC at
IndyMac Bancorp. A discussion ensued
concerning the details of that process,
including the manner in which loans
would be modified, the criteria used in
assessing borrower eligibility, the
potential costs of such a program under
differing assumptions, and methods of
controlling such costs. Members and
others also discussed the current obstacles
to private-sector loan modifications, the
importance of targeting government
assistance towards loan modifications that
otherwise would not be made by servicers
or investors, and the potential to use asset
purchases by TARP to speed price
discovery and aid troubled markets.

underway to review and consider
potential policies for preventing avoidable
foreclosures and that the Treasury and the
FDIC were working through this process.
Mr. Preston also stated that the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development was hosting an inter-agency
forum later in the day to identify and
coordinate methods for helping at-risk
borrowers. Ms. Bair and the other guests
from the FDIC then departed.

Members concurred that it was
important for the government to help
reduce avoidable foreclosures and to
analyze alternatives to identify the best
and most effective ways for doing so.
Mr. Paulson and Ms. Bair indicated that
the Administration had a process

The meeting was adjourned at
approximately 12:28 p.m. (EDT).

A discussion then occurred
concerning the designation of one or more
staff liaisons from each agency
represented on the Board to serve as
points of contacts on administrative and
other issues related to the Board.
Members unanimously supported this
proposal, and it was agreed that the names
of such liaisons would be forwarded to
the Secretary of the Board.

[Signed Electronically]
_________________________________
Jason A. Gonzalez
Secretary