Darrell Issa
Business financial compliance requirements would be streamlined and made more transparent under bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) on Thursday.
The Financial Transparency Act, H.R. 1530, would build on Issa’s previous efforts to require federal financial regulators to use a uniform, open, searchable data format for all information they collect.
“Passing the Financial Transparency Act would be a big achievement for data transparency and the openness of public information,” Issa said. “What my previous legislation, the DATA Act, is doing to open up government spending through online, searchable and freely accessible data, the Financial Transparency Act would do for financial reporting information. Financial reporting often relies on cumbersome — and duplicative — paper or PDF reports that make it difficult for regulators, and the public, to track down the information they need.”
The Financial Transparency Act would require that agencies make information available online in an electronically searchable, downloadable format that doesn’t have license restrictions.
“By updating the process to an open data standard for the information already reported to the nation’s eight financial regulatory agencies, we’ll be able to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses, give the public and investors better access to information, and boost our ability to find, and prevent, instances of fraud,” Issa said.
U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL), the vice chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities and Investment, said fraudsters have fooled regulators who still use pen and paper technology to handle modern digital challenges.
“This archaic practice harms our investors, markets and consumers,” Hultgren said. “We need regulators to use searchable, open data to improve transparency and reduce the time consumers and businesses spend each year on unnecessary paperwork.”
“Better decisions by investors and regulators, and lower compliance costs, will translate to faster economic growth and greater confidence in our economy,” Hultgren added.
Issa introduced the bill with U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO).
The legislation has gained the support of the Data Coalition, a trade group that advocates on behalf of the private sector and the public for the publication of government information as standardized data.