Additional Monitoring and Accountability of the Troubled Assets Relief Program

The bill to amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to provide for additional monitoring and accountability of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (H.R. 1242), introduced by Representative Carolyn Maloney, would increase oversight and ensure transparency in the spending of the $700 billion in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The bill would require the creation of a centralized, web-accessible public database system in a consistent, standardized format within the Department of Treasury, so that TARP funds will be easily visible and traceable.  Treasury would be required to combine the reported, government data with data that are collected by independent sources including corporate press releases, news articles, indexes, corporate profiles, and other non-government financial information.  The compilation of government and third party data will create as full and complete a profile as possible of the institution’s financial application of TARP funds.  It also provides the crucial ability to monitor inconsistencies in near real time that could indicate the misuse of such funds at both the corporate and individual officer level.