Commits to disclose

Fed, facing pressure, commits to disclose monthly who's getting bailouts

That includes the names of participants, how much they borrowed and at what rate, and the overall costs, revenue and fees for each emergency facility, it said.

By VICTORIA GUIDA

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced it will reveal every month the names of companies that borrow under its massive emergency lending programs, as it faces intense pressure to be transparent about the use of bailout money.

The central bank said it will disclose “substantial amounts of information” for its emergency facilities that are backed by billions of dollars in funds in the economic relief package passed last month by Congress. That includes the names of participants, how much they borrowed and at what rate, and the overall costs, revenue and fees for each emergency facility, it said.

“The Federal Reserve is committed to transparency and accountability by providing the public and Congress detailed information about our actions to support the economy during this difficult time,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a statement.

Bharat Ramamurti, a former aide to Sen. Elizabeth Warren who was tapped to join the congressional oversight commission created by the coronavirus relief package, is among those who have called on the Fed to be transparent about who is receiving funds.

He welcomed today's announcement.

"This is a significant victory for the public," Ramamurti said in a tweet. "You will now know on a monthly basis which companies are getting support and how much support they're getting. We will need to look carefully at the first report to see if other information is needed but this is a very good step."

The transparency pledge covers potentially trillions in emergency loans that the central bank has said it will offer to large corporations, smaller businesses and municipal governments.

Because the Fed isn’t set up to take on the risk of borrowers defaulting, the Treasury Department will cover any losses with the money set aside by Congress.

The pledge does not cover a group of other Fed programs that aren’t backed by CARES Act funding and are more directed at the proper functioning of financial markets, according to the Fed.

The central bank has been releasing higher-level aggregate data for those lending facilities and is required by law to disclose borrowers one year after the programs cease operations.

The Fed has not decided what type of disclosures it will make under a program where it lends to banks against collateral that includes bundled student loans, auto loans and credit card loans. That program is backed by Treasury funds, but not from the CARES Act, the Fed said.

The disclosures for now also will not cover the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, which is conducted by the Small Business Administration and Treasury.