Federal Reserve officials are considering steps to provide the public with more information about emergency programs aimed at reviving credit and ending the U.S. recession.
The central bank will probably increase disclosure on the collateral it holds against loans to financial firms, while also weighing a full range of options, including possible press conferences, according to people familiar with the matter.
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has asked an internal committee headed by Vice Chairman Donald Kohn to review ways the central bank can boost transparency after it extended its lender-of-last resort role far beyond banks and doubled its balance sheet to more than $2 trillion to stem the credit crisis.
The committee will probably recommend that the central bank reveal credit ratings on collateral it holds in a program supporting American International Group Inc., the people said. The panel will also suggest more disclosure about the mortgages and related securities the central bank took on while orchestrating the merger of Bear Stearns Cos. with JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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The U.S. Senate in a nonbinding April 2 amendment urged the Fed to release details on loan collateral at least every month. It also called on the central bank to provide the number of borrowers and say whether loans accepted in the bailouts of Bear Stearns and AIG have recorded losses that won’t be recovered.
The bill, which passed 96-2, wasn’t as tough as another amendment that passed 59-39 calling on the central bank to release details on the companies that received Fed loans.
