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12/4/2020

Financial Stability Oversight Council Releases Annual Report | U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Stability Oversight Council Releases Annual Report
December 3, 2020

WASHINGTON – The Financial Stability Oversight Council (Council) today unanimously
approved its 2020 annual report. This year’s report analyzes the financial e ects of the
COVID-19 pandemic and the policy responses to mitigate its impact on the economy and the
financial system. Additionally, the Council’s annual report describes significant financial
market and regulatory developments, potential emerging threats to U.S. financial stability,
recommendations to promote U.S. financial stability, and the activities of the Council. The
report was developed collaboratively by members of the Council and their agencies and
sta s.
“This year’s annual report reflects the Council’s engagement throughout the pandemic as a
key forum for federal and state regulators to share information, analyze risks, and coordinate
their responses to the most severe U.S. economic shock since the Great Depression,” said
Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “The Council’s recommendations in the report
provide actionable steps for regulators and market participants to address potential risks to
financial stability as our economy continues to recover.”
The Council’s recommendations in the annual report include the following:
The Council recommends that regulators review structural vulnerabilities in short-term
wholesale funding markets, including the vulnerability to large-scale redemptions from
prime and tax-exempt money market mutual funds, and the role leveraged nonbank
financial institutions may have played in market volatility in March 2020. The Council
recommends that, if warranted, regulators take appropriate measures to mitigate these
vulnerabilities.
In response to the increased risk in nonfinancial business borrowing, the Council
recommends that financial regulatory agencies continue to monitor levels of
nonfinancial business leverage, trends in asset valuations, and potential implications for
the entities they regulate in order to assess and reinforce the ability of the financial
sector to manage severe, simultaneous losses.
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12/4/2020

Financial Stability Oversight Council Releases Annual Report | U.S. Department of the Treasury

The Council recommends that regulators continue to monitor volatility in commercial
real estate (CRE) asset valuations, the level of CRE concentration at banks, and the
performance of CRE loans. The Council also recommends that regulators continue to
encourage banks and other entities to bolster, as needed, their loss-absorption capacity
by strengthening their capital and liquidity bu ers commensurate with the levels of CRE
concentration on their balance sheets.
The Council recommends that financial regulators ensure that the largest financial
institutions maintain su icient capital and liquidity to ensure their resiliency against
economic and financial shocks. The Council also recommends that regulators continue
to monitor and assess the impact of rules on financial institutions and financial markets
—including, for example, on capital and market liquidity—and ensure that bank holding
companies are appropriately monitored based on their size, risk, concentration of
activities, and o erings of new products and activities.
The Council recommends that federal and state agencies continue to monitor
cybersecurity risks and conduct cybersecurity examinations of financial institutions and
financial infrastructures to ensure, among other things, robust and comprehensive
cybersecurity monitoring, especially in light of new risks posed by the pandemic. The
Council also recommends that agencies work to improve information sharing among
private firms and government partners.
View the full report

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