To establish the Financial Markets Commission, and for other purposes.

SA 995. Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Dodd, Mr.
Whitehouse, Ms. Snowe, and Mr. Chambliss) proposed an amendment to the
bill S. 386, to improve enforcement of mortgage fraud, securities
fraud, financial institution fraud, and other frauds related to federal
assistance and relief programs, for the recovery of funds lost to these
frauds, and for other purposes; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. FINANCIAL MARKETS COMMISSION.

(a) Establishment of Commission.--There is established in
the legislative branch the Financial Markets Commission (in
this section referred to as the ``Commission'') to examine
all causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and
economic crisis in the United States.
(b) Composition of the Commission.--
(1) Members.--The Commission shall be composed of 10
members, of whom--
(A) 2 members shall be appointed by the majority leader of
the Senate;
(B) 2 members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives;
(C) 1 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of
the Senate;
(D) 1 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of
the House of Representatives;
(E) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate;
(F) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking member of
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate;
(G) 1 member shall be appointed by the chairman of the
Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives; and
(H) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking member of
the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Qualifications; limitation.--
(A) In general.--Individuals appointed to the Commission
shall be United States citizens having significant experience
in such fields as banking, regulation of markets, taxation,
finance, economics and housing.
(B) Limitation.--No person who is a member of Congress or
an officer or employee of the Federal Government or any State
or local government may serve as a member of the Commission.
(3) Chairperson; vice chairperson.--
(A) In general.--Subject to the requirements of
subparagraph (B), the Chairperson of the Commission shall be
selected jointly by the Majority Leader of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Vice
Chairperson shall be selected jointly by the Minority Leader
of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives.
(B) Political party affiliation.--The Chairperson and Vice
Chairperson of the Commission may not be from the same
political party.
(4) Initial meeting.--If, 45 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, 4 or more members of the Commission
have been appointed, those members who have been appointed
may meet and, if necessary, select a temporary Chairperson
and Vice Chairperson, who may begin the operations of the
Commission, including the hiring of staff.
(5) Quorum; vacancies.--After the initial meeting of the
Commission, the Commission shall meet upon the call of the
Chairperson or a majority of its members. Six members of the
Commission shall constitute a quorum. Any vacancy on the
Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled
in the same manner in which the original appointment was
made.
(c) Functions of the Commission.--The functions of the
Commission are--
(1) to examine the causes of the current financial and
economic crisis in the United States, including the role, if
any, of--
(A) fraud and abuse in the financial sector;
(B) Federal and State financial regulators, including the
extent to which they enforced, or failed to enforce
statutory, regulatory, or supervisory requirements;
(C) the global imbalance of savings, international capital
flows, and fiscal imbalances of various governments;
(D) monetary policy and the availability and terms of
credit;
(E) accounting practices, including, mark-to-market and
fair value rules, and treatment of off-balance sheet
vehicles;
(F) tax treatment of financial products and investments;
(G) capital requirements and regulations on leverage and
liquidity, including the capital structures of regulated and
non-regulated financial entities;
(H) credit rating agencies;
(I) lending practices and securitization, including the
originate-to-distribute model for extending credit and
transferring risk;
(J) affiliations between insured depository institutions
and securities, insurance, and other types of nonbanking
companies;
(K) market participant expectations that certain
institutions were ``too-big-to-fail'';
(L) corporate governance, including the impact of company
conversions from partnerships to corporations;
(M) compensation structures;
(N) changes in compensation for employees of financial
companies, as compared to compensation for others with
similar skill sets in the labor market;
(O) Federal housing policy;
(P) derivatives and unregulated financial products and
practices;
(Q) short-selling;
(R) financial institution reliance on numerical models,
including risk models and credit ratings;
(S) the legal and regulatory structure governing financial
institutions;
(T) the legal and regulatory structure governing investor
protection;
(U) financial institutions and government-sponsored
enterprises;
(V) the reliance on credit ratings by Federal financial
regulators, and the use of credit ratings in financial
regulation; and
(W) the quality of due diligence undertaken by financial
institutions;
(2) to examine the causes of the collapse of each major
financial institution that failed (including institutions
that were acquired to prevent their failure) or was likely to
have failed if not for the receipt of exceptional Government
assistance from the Department of the Treasury during the
period beginning in August 2007 through April 2009;
(3) to submit a report under subsection (g);
(4) to refer to the Attorney General of the United States
and any appropriate State attorney general any person that
the Commission finds may have violated the laws of the United
States in relation to such crisis; and
(5) to review and build upon the record of the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the
Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives, other Congressional committees, the
Government Accountability Office, and other legislative
panels with respect to the current financial and economic
crisis.
(d) Powers of the Commission.--
(1) Hearings and evidence.--The Commission may, for
purposes of carrying out this section--
(A) hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, take
testimony, receive evidence, and administer oaths; and
(B) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and
testimony of witnesses and the production of books, records,
correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents.
(2) Subpoenas.--
(A) Service.--Subpoenas issued under paragraph (1)(B) may
be served by any person designated by the Commission.
(B) Enforcement.--
(i) In general.--In the case of contumacy or failure to
obey a subpoena issued under paragraph (1)(B), the United
States district court for the judicial district in which the
subpoenaed person resides, is served, or may be found, or
where the subpoena is returnable, may issue an order
requiring such person to appear at any designated place to
testify or to produce documentary or other evidence. Any
failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the
court as a contempt of that court.
(ii) Additional enforcement.--Sections 102 through 104 of
the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192
through 194) shall apply in the case of any failure of any
witness to comply with any subpoena or to testify when
summoned under the authority of this section.
(3) Contracting.--The Commission may enter into contracts
to enable the Commission to discharge its duties under this
section.
(4) Information from federal agencies and other entities.--
(A) In general.--The Commission may secure directly from
any department, agency,

[[Page S4592]]

or instrumentality of the United States any information
related to any inquiry of the Commission conducted under this
section, including information of a confidential nature
(which the Commission shall maintain in a secure manner).
Each such department, agency, or instrumentality shall
furnish such information directly to the Commission upon
request.
(B) Other entities.--It is the sense of the Congress that
the Commission should seek testimony or information from
principals and other representatives of government agencies
and private entities that were significant participants in
the United States and global financial and housing markets
during the time period examined by the Commission.
(5) Funding.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide,
out of money previously appropriated, $5,000,000 to the
Commission to carry out this section, to remain available
until expended or until termination of the Commission under
subsection (h).
(6) Donations of goods and services.--The Commission may
accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or
property.
(7) Postal services.--The Commission may use the United
States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions
as departments and agencies of the United States.
(8) Powers of subcommittees, members, and agents.--Any
subcommittee, member, or agent of the Commission may, if
authorized by the Commission, take any action which the
Commission is authorized to take by this section.
(e) Staff of the Commission.--
(1) Director.--The Commission shall have a Director who
shall be appointed by the Chairperson and the Vice
Chairperson, acting jointly.
(2) Staff.--The Chairperson and the Vice Chairperson may
jointly appoint additional personnel, as may be necessary, to
enable the Commission to carry out its functions.
(3) Applicability of certain civil service laws.--The
Director and staff of the Commission may be appointed without
regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code,
governing appointments in the competitive service, and may be
paid without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and
subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to
classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that no
rate of pay fixed under this paragraph may exceed the
equivalent of that payable for a position at level V of the
Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United
States Code. Any individual appointed under paragraph (1) or
(2) shall be treated as an employee for purposes of chapters
63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 89A, 89B, and 90 of that title.
(4) Detailees.--Any Federal Government employee may be
detailed to the Commission without reimbursement from the
Commission, and such detailee shall retain the rights,
status, and privileges of his or her regular employment
without interruption.
(5) Consultant services.--The Commission is authorized to
procure the services of experts and consultants in accordance
with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at
rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a person occupying a
position at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section
5315 of title 5, United States Code.
(f) Compensation and Travel Expenses.--
(1) Compensation.--Each member of the Commission may be
compensated at a rate not to exceed the daily equivalent of
the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at
level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of
title 5, United States Code, for each day during which that
member is engaged in the actual performance of the duties of
the Commission.
(2) Travel expenses.--While away from their homes or
regular places of business in the performance of services for
the Commission, members of the Commission shall be allowed
travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence,
in the same manner as persons employed intermittently in the
Government service are allowed expenses under section 5703(b)
of title 5, United States Code.
(g) Report of the Commission; Appearance Before and
Consultations With Congress.--
(1) Report.--On December 15, 2010, the Commission shall
submit to the President and to Congress a report containing
the findings and conclusions of the Commission on the causes
of the current financial and economic crisis in the United
States.
(2) Institution-specific reports authorized.--At the
discretion of the chairperson of the Commission, the report
under paragraph (1) may include reports or specific findings
on any financial institution examined by the Commission under
subsection (c)(2).
(3) Appearance before congress.--The chairperson of the
Commission shall, not later than 120 days after the date of
submission of the final reports under paragraph (1), appear
before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the
House of Representatives regarding such reports and the
findings of the Commission.
(4) Consultations with congress.--The Commission shall
consult with the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services
of the House of Representatives, and may consult with other
Committees of Congress, for purposes of informing Congress on
the work of the Commission.
(h) Termination of Commission.--
(1) In general.--The Commission, and all the authorities of
this section, shall terminate 60 days after the date on which
the final report is submitted under subsection (g).
(2) Administrative activities before termination.--The
Commission may use the 60-day period referred to in paragraph
(1) for the purpose of concluding its activities, including
providing testimony to committees of Congress concerning its
reports and disseminating the final report submitted under
subsection (g).
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