Senator Mike Crapo
(R-ID), Ranking Member on the Banking Committee, is concerned that the asset
management study conducted by the Office of Financial Research was a flawed
effort that failed to take into account the perspectives of and data from the
SEC and market participants. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in his
capacity as Chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Senator Crapo
said that the study resulted in a flawed evaluation of the asset management
industry and , even worse, a move towards designating asset management firms as
systemically significant financial institutions without an accurate
understanding of the role they play in the financial system.
He went on
to say that the OFR should have engaged in a more transparent and productive
way with the SEC and market participants by setting up a transparent process
for soliciting comment from the industry and the SEC. who is the primary
regulator of asset managers. But unfortunately the OFR did not do this leading
to a complete lack of peer review.
This is important, said
the Senator because FSOC appears to be contemplating whether or not to
designate some asset management firms as systemically important financial
institutions. To the extent FSOC intends to rely on information in the OFR study,
it is critical that the study contains the best data available and reflects a
proper public comment process.