Financial Services announces tentative hearing schedule

The committee is planning on five separate hearings on housing-related issues in the next two months, both at the full committee and subcommittee level. The Capital Markets subcommittee will kick things off on Feb. 9 with a hearing on reform of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the committee as a whole will meet on the issue on March 1. Various subcommittees will explore other aspects of housing finance, including the recent news that taxpayers had been paying for hefty legal fees for former GSE executives.

The committee will also discuss the findings of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on Feb. 16. That group will release its findings Thursday, and early reports indicate it will allocate blame for the financial crisis to a variety of public and private actors, including Congress.

The topic of interchange fees for debit cards, which has been a hot-button issue pitting retailers against banks, will be the subject of a subcommittee hearing on Feb. 17. The Federal Reserve was charged under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law with drafting rules limiting the amount of fees banks can charge merchants for using their debit cards.

The panel will also dive into the impact of Dodd-Frank on derivatives with a full committee hearing on Feb. 15.

Bachus said that while he wants the public to know what is on the committee agenda, the schedule is still dependent on when witnesses are available or other factors.

“The committee will be busy this year addressing the issues of concern to Americans: jobs, economic activity, Fannie and Freddie reform and implementation of Dodd-Frank,” he said in a statement. “We will work to ensure that taxpayers are protected. This hearing schedule is tentative but is intended to inform Americans on the issues the committee will be tackling.”