Data Coalition Applauds Congress for Passing Major Financial Transparency Bill

Financial Data Transparency Act will modernize financial reporting to improve accountability and transparency. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congress passed the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) as a part of the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. The FDTA requires seven of the financial regulatory member-agencies of the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council to adopt and apply uniform data standards (i.e. a common data format) for the information collected from regulated entities. As a consequence, the data standards will enable better information processing, software-enabled filing preparation, and data reconciliation. This bill has clear benefits for the American public, investors, government regulators, and private sector firms.

“The Data Coalition is pleased to see that the collaboration and advocacy from our members, partners, and staff resulted in such a strong, bipartisan mandate from Congress to modernize our country’s financial data,” said Nick Hart, president of the Data Foundation. “We are especially grateful for the leadership from the legislation’s congressional champions. Special thanks to our Financial Transparency Task Force members.” 

“This bill is about harnessing the power of software to improve investor insight and reduce regulatory compliance costs. It's a clear win for investors, taxpayers, and efficient capital markets," said Craig Clay, president of global capital markets at Donnelley Financial Solutions, and advisory board member of the Data Coalition. 

“Transparency is a key component to building trust in a global economy," said Marty Vanderploeg, CEO of Workiva Inc. "As the volume of financial data grows, it is critical that we build systems to make that data easier to work with, verify, and utilize. Workiva has been a long-time supporter of legislative action such as the Financial Data Transparency Act, and we are thrilled to see it pass both houses. The bill will transform government data into open, smart, searchable and downloadable formats without proprietary restrictions.” 

The Data Coalition looks forward to continuing our work towards a more effective and efficient regulatory data ecosystem. We will continue to coordinate experts and thought leaders to ensure a collaborative implementation phase, starting with our upcoming 2023 RegTech Data Summit. 

About the Financial Data Transparency Act:

Common Identifiers Across the Covered U.S. Financial Regulatory Agencies 

The FDTA requires the establishment of “common identifiers” for information reported to covered regulatory agencies, which could include transactions and financial products/instruments. 

Searchable, Machine-Readable, Open Data Standards

The FDTA includes a set of required characteristics that build upon industry and technology best practices, account for lessons learned from existing federal regulatory standard setting, and incorporate relevant federal policy and international standards definitions. 

Promotes Interoperability 

In establishing data standards, the FDTA requires the heads of covered agencies to consult with each other to promote interoperability of financial regulatory data across members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

No New Reporting or Disclosure Requirements

Nothing in the FDTA requires any covered agency to collect or make publicly available additional information.

Minimize Burden on Smaller Entities

The FDTA allows agencies to scale data reporting requirements to reduce burden on smaller regulated entities and minimize disruptive changes to those affected by regulations. 

Learn more about the Financial Data Transparency Act.
 

About the Data Coalition

The Data Coalition is an initiative of the non-profit Data Foundation. The membership-based initiative facilitates a strong national data community and advocates for responsible policies to make government data high-quality, accessible, and usable. The Data Coalition’s work unites the data communities that focus on data science, management, evaluation, statistics, and technology, including individuals in companies, nonprofit organizations, and academia.