Frank Looks to Tighten TARP Terms

Washington — House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation intended to strengthen accountability and increase transparency to the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Specifically, H.R. 384, the TARP Reform and Accountability Act, would require any existing or future institution that receives funding under TARP to provide no less than quarterly public reporting on its use of the funding.

Companies would also be subject to stricter rules regarding executive compensation. The bill requires the U.S. Treasury to prohibit incentives that encourage excessive risks, provides for claw-back of compensation received based on materially inaccurate statements, and prohibits all golden parachute payments to executives for the duration of the investment.

The legislation comes on the heels of news that New York-based American International Group Inc. has cancelled $93.3 million in accelerated payouts to former employees and top executives, after being criticized in Congress for lavishing large pay packages on executives despite being reliant on TARP funds.