Transcripts For CSPAN2 Financial Regulators Testify On Impac

CSPAN2 Financial Regulators Testify On Impact Of Regulations On Diversity And... July 12, 2024

Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] ] we welcome our second panel of witnesses. Pamela gibbs, the director, office of minority and women inclusion of the securities and exchange commission. Levine is the Director Office of minority and women inclusion of the federal Housing Finance agency. And laura mcrae, the director of the office of minority women inclusion of a Consumer Financial protection bureau. That yourare reminded testimony will be limited to five minutes. I chime will go off at the end that your time. Respect themt you members and other witnesses time by wrapping up your moral testimony. Without objection, your written statement will be made part of the record. Cole, you are now recognized for five minutes to give in or a presentation on your testimony. Chairwoman and a Ranking Member wagner and distinguish members of the subcommittee thank you for this opportunity to testify and share the diversity and inclusion efforts of treasuries headquarters. Diversity and inclusion emerged as a discipline over the past 50 years or so. But i prefer to trace these values to the words on the great seal of the United States e. Pluralist unum. Out of many, one. Hundreds of thousands of people were enslaved when that motto , so ourbe in1776 nations practices did not exactly align with its founding principles. But we can celebrate that this has been our longstanding ideal and our continuing quest to this day. So, i am pleased to have this opportunity to share treasuries ,ngoing work toward this end including topics from our most recent annual report and activities undertaken in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Treasury has continued to increase utilization of minority owned and women owned businesses. For example, in fy 2019, more than 1 3 of the contract for Treasury Departmental offices amounting to 112 million were awarded 112 million were awarded to minority and women owned businesses. Treasury has also worked to strengthen and sustained small and minority owned banks. Treasury launched a program to engage large commercial banks with small and minority owned banks in mentor protege relationships. Last year, secretary mnuchin and personally championed the expansion of this program by writing to the ceos of 26 of the largest banks to invite their participation. Treasuries supported participation of minority depositories institutions as lenders in the paycheck protection program. On march 3 of this year when treasury commemorated the 155th anniversary of friedmans bank, we never could have envisioned bet in the they would called on weeks later to address the economic fallout of the covid19 pandemic. When the paycheck protection dus hadclose, 175 m 123,000 loans providing 10 billion to Small Businesses. Pppddition, 27 of all funds were distributed to low and moderate income communities which is proportionate to their percentage of the population. Increases strives to Workforce Diversity at all levels of the agency. 36 percent of employees across all grade levels and treasuries headquarters are racial or ethnic minorities, and 44 of all employees are women. We strive to promote a Workplace Culture where diversity and inclusion is accepted as the responsibility of every employee. For instance, all Senior Executives have a diversity and inclusion element written into their performance plan. Posteden the 8 directors hosted workshop after 3he george floyd killing, 1 were treasury employees. Treasury works to inspire tomorrows leaders. We conducted the treasury gcholars program hostin talented minority students as interns from leading colleges and universities including hbcus, and hispanic serving institutions. Experiences provide them with marketable skills, inspire them to consider Public Service careers, and even position them for future employment at treasury. So, in the spirit of e. Unum, we as employees and contractors are financial agents, our representatives of the beneficiaries of our work. The american people. I look forward to answering any questions you may have for me. Chair beatty thank you very much. Sharon levine is the director of office of minority women inclusion of the federal housing agency. You will have five minutes for your testimony. Good afternoon. Ranking member wagner and the distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the invitation to a pure at this hearing. Since 2014 i had the honor of serving as director of the office inclusion. [inaudible] let me express appreciation for the work you have done on diversity and inclusion. It is our commitment to diversity and inclusion at the agency this has been true for as long as i have worked here. And as i discussed in the and efforts to build and sustain an environment. And valued for our differences. [low audio] but today, this work has taken on added significance. The tragic loss of life and il unrest in recent months for far too long have left many of our colleagues distressed. These events to ensure that racism [inaudible] i am proud of stepping up this year. Strong encouragement to put our colleagues and help our entire agency. As the director said many times in recent months, we must do better. And i am grateful for his steadfast as we have endeavored to reach that goal within our agency. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is far be our recent efforts to respond to recent events. It is part of the core values. Following economic recovery of 2008, it requires steps to seek consistent with diversity of the United States. We need that effort. In january. Shed of the dodd frank act. We are required by law to establish. [inaudible] we have a strong track record of promoting diversity through management. I am proud to say that we have launched one of the most diverse workforces. But that does not mean that our work is done. Since my first day in office. To raise the program and strengthen efforts [inaudible] theector insured executive committee was strengthened. The directive provided leadership necessary initiativese hiring to include diversity and inclusion as foundational values of all that we do. Elevatings include the office of equal opportunity and fairness. In the office of the director. Conducting the second diversity [inaudible] unconscious bias training for all employees. Commissioning and conducting analyses to ensure fair and a global promotion. Across the agency. Launching the agencys first diversity advice [inaudible] Internship Program to foster a diverse pipeline. In prioritizing the second most recent of which was the historian to discuss his book. [inaudible] in the interest of time i will conclude. My written testimony contains more details of this initiative. And our work to supervise the diversity and inclusion thank you again for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to answering your questions. This gives, you are now recognized for five minutes to give in or presentation miss gibbs. Thank you. Chair beatty, Ranking Member wagner and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today to highlight secs efforts to enhance diversity and opportunity. I commend this committee for its role in passing section 342. For your vision and commitment to equality and access to opportunities. Section 342 has had a Significant Impact on the financial regulatory agencies and the entities we regulate. And is largely responsible for the advances made by women and minorities over the years. Hase its inception, the sec focused its critical mandate franksection 342 of dodd with the goal of developing and implementing programs that would lead to enhanced diversity and inclusion and opportunities for women and minorities at the sec. An underrepresented community. The outcomes achieved over the years with regards to hiring, promotion, business, diversity in training and outreach efforts and interaction with our regulating entities, ec hastrates that the s been effective at promoting change. The diversity and inclusion efforts have moved from a place of theoretical discussions about programmatic activities to the implementation of significant strategies and actions that have resulted in tangible outcomes with regard to workforce, supply and diversity. Of our regulated entities, under the leadership of chairman j creighton. C 4500 talented men and women are most important asset. Their expertise is essential to oversight and regulation of our fast complex and everchanging capital markets. Promoting diversity and inclusion in our workforce is not only a shared agency commitment, it is also value enhancing. , i believe that our efforts have provided tangible proof of this value proposition. Increased diversity, inclusion has enhanced secs performance and as a result benefited investors, issue worse and other market participants. In addition to the efforts at sec, we also provide leadership and guidance on diversity, for markets matters participants in the entities we regulate. First, we engage with each of external committees and has provided direct input to these committees, to ensure that all have embraced the need for hearing diverse perspectives of members critical to the success of the committees. Recent candidate selections and Public Meetings evidence this understanding. We are also looking to the industry we regulate to be leaders in promoting opportunities for historically underrepresented populations within their workforces. We have conducted significant outreach in this regard. Againr this year, the sec issued this diversity assessment report to our regulating entities. And we have continued to look for creative ways to incentivize participation in this initiative. We continue to remain encouraged with the progress of our regulating entities. And we will continue to take engagementcourage and collaboration for our entities. Following, finally, we have implemented in outreach and Technical Assistance strategy that is increase minority and women own businesses awareness cs in contracting resulting in sustained improvements during the8 years during my time as directed. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today on this important topic. Hase i believe that the sec come a long way in its efforts to promote diversity and inclusion, there is still much work that needs to be done. We will continue to emphasize the commitment to respect diversity, inclusion and opportunity for all in and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. Chair beatty thank you. Very much. And now miss mccrea. You will be recognized for five minutesto give five testimony on your or a presentation. Thank you. Good afternoon afternoon, chair beatty, Ranking Member wagner and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to update you at the Consumer Financial bureau. I am laura mccrae. I am pleased to share with you some of the bureaus efforts to integrate diversity and inclusion across the bureau and in our business. In ourd in the 2019 with the support of leadership we saw increases in gender and Ethnic Diversity in our workforce. We expanded our outreach efforts to attract diverse staff. We conducted outreach to regulators to understand their practices. And developed an Online System to analyze that information. We continue cultural programming in the workplace. But ally, we include women and minority owned businesses. Actively work to fulfill the statutory mandates with section 342 of the dodd frank act to ensure that policies and Financial Solutions developed by the bureau are relevant for all customers and to fully integrate dni into our organization. Given the challenge our country is facing as we continued to struggle with racial violence and inequity. Ever. More important than under the leadership of the director, i implemented a full review action plan shortly after the death of george floyd on may 25 to the staff with tools and resources dealing with the event. Toollaborated with my peers deliver a webcast on june 24. In addition, Racial Equity learning resources for our bureau employees. And that address specific racial issues such as antiracism, bias and white privilege. As well as guidelines for addressing racial biases and issues in the workplace. Is continuing to support staff as they deal with these ongoing issues. The bureaus mission is best accomplished with a qualified, diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the nations diversity. The bureau developed a robust recruiting effort at colleges tradeiversities, institutions and professional organizations including minority and women owned organizations. As a result of that, we have a diverse, competitive workforce. As of july, women make 50 of the bureaus workforce. Minorities make up 21 of the workforce. And with leadership, 49 are women compared to 34 governmentwide and 36 are minorities compared to 21 governmentwide. In january, 2020, the bureau launched an online Data Collection tool. Called inclusivity. To collect data from our regulators entities. Weve each other till 1000 institutions. The Response Rate has been impacted by the pandemic. We look with to educate and show the benefits. The barrel also engages in an array of incidents to promote work environment, collaboration and greater productivity. I share a message to all employees sharing perspective on the topics. Includes 35 matched pairs and Group Discussions on career development. Continues to prioritize minority owned businesses. We encourage Business Opportunities with the bureau, including our quarterly, how to do business with the bureau series. 9. 2 to 8. 9 . Year, werrent fiscal are increasing in this area. We made significant progress into 2020, but there is more that the bureau can accomplish. Critical,ment is interacting with financial get space. I look forward to working with the community to achieve the goals and i am happy to answer any questions that you might have. Thank you. Thank you very much. I now recognize myself for five minute for questions. 1400 regulated entities. Nly 38 responded i appreciate your enthusiasm and hope. Is there anything that we can do . Few . O you think you had so thank you for that question. Of the biggest reasons why ,e have this low Response Rate the entities that we regulate, they did not quite understand what we are doing. The fcc has gone out with a second report and the numbers are much more pleasing. They are drastically improved because we have done a lot more as we engaged entities and talked about it. I do not want to cut you off. Say you are hopeful that the numbers will go up . Yes. Can you tell us why the Consumer Protection bureau only began electing data this year . Certainly. Bureau into 319. Can you hear me now . In january. Can you hear me now . I am speaking on information that i learned as i came into the bureau. They had been looking to do outreach and engagement to get a more robust understanding about what they were doing. Thank you very much. Subject to section can you share how you have leveraged your authority to collect data from regulated entities . Yes. It in 2017. Years. We have connected very detailed. Ata that way, we are able to analyze that data. Thank you. Continues tosm impede full economic inclusion of our community. Part tocreated in prevent abusive practices. This is a yes or no question for everyone. You believe systemic racism exists . Yes or no . Yes, absolutely. Yes. Yes. Mcrae . Yes. I would like to enter into the record a letter that came from the executive office of management and budget. I will not read it, but i will enter it into the record. I do not know if you are familiar with this letter, but it recently made a statement that when we look at training and inclusion, it should be ceased and assisted. Do you think any of your trainers training to perpetuate abuse that all my people contribute to racism or benefit from it . That is a yes or no. No. That does not characterize any of our training. Thank you. Characterizes not any of the training. Would you also say that your training and the work that you do has been value enhancing active yes or no. Yes, it has. Yes. Yes. Thank you. I yield back my time. It is up. Now i recognize the distinguished gentleman from , for congressman gonzales questions. Ofthank you for being part todays hearing. Run through it quickly. I will start with ms. Cole. There are so many challenges. How does the Treasury Department maintain focus throughout the pandemic . Initially, certainly after the killing of george floyd, we knew that there was a lot of trauma within the nation and among we know that individuals believe that confusion at the door when they come to work. We knew that it was important for us to address these issues, not only as a compassionate activity, but also as an important business decision because we know that this can affect productivity. One of the things that we did as programwas to put on a feelings, the issues and some of the solutions and action that could be taken by employees, relative to the upheaval that was precipitated by the george floyd incident. Thank you. Theyhat just the staff or spearheaded the initiative . It was. Interagency with all with all of the employees. Very good. And q. Question one thing that we have talked about a lot in this subcommittee i hear it often. There are not enough opportunities for minority businesses to manage pensions. That is an incredibly lucrative field and a wonderful opportunity for those in that field. I would be curious to hear your perspective on the steps that need to be taken to make sure that we have more diverse managers and more opportunities for those in the Asset Management field. Inky for that question. Questionery important to the fcc. We have four advisory committees and one of the committees is the Asset Management. In my partnership over the years , this issue has come up a number of times throughout the years. I am

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