Sec. 4. Right to independent review of material supervisory determinations
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The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978, as amended by sections 2 and 3 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following: A financial institution shall have the right to obtain an independent review of a material supervisory determination contained in a final report of examination. A financial institution seeking review of a material supervisory determination under this section shall file a written notice with the Director within 60 days after receiving the final report of examination that is the subject of such review.
The written notice shall identify the material supervisory determination that is the subject of the independent examination review, and a statement of the reasons why the institution believes that the determination is incorrect or should otherwise be modified. Any information relied upon by the agency in the final report that is not in the possession of the financial institution may be requested by the financial institution and shall be delivered promptly by the agency to the financial institution.
The Director shall— determine the merits of the appeal on the record; or at the election of the financial institution, refer the appeal to an administrative law judge to conduct a hearing pursuant to the procedures set forth under sections 556 and 557 of title 5, United States Code, which shall take place not later than 60 days after the petition for review is received by the Director. An administrative law judge conducting a hearing under paragraph (1)(B) shall issue a proposed decision to the Director based upon the record established at the hearing.
In any hearing under this subsection— neither the administrative law judge nor the Director shall defer to the opinions of the examiner or agency, but shall independently determine the appropriateness of the agency’s decision based upon the relevant statutes, regulations, other appropriate guidance, and evidence presented at the hearing. A decision by the Director on an independent review under this section shall— be made not later than 60 days after the record has been closed; and be deemed final agency action and shall bind the agency whose supervisory determination was the subject of the review and the financial institution requesting the review.
A financial institution shall have the right to petition for review of the decision of the Director under this section by filing a petition for review not later than 60 days after the date on which the decision is made in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit or the Circuit in which the financial institution is located. The Director shall report annually to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate on actions taken under this section, including the types of issues that the Director has reviewed and the results of those reviews.
In no case shall such a report contain information about individual financial institutions or any confidential or privileged information shared by financial institutions. A Federal financial institutions regulatory agency may not— retaliate against a financial institution, including service providers, or any institution-affiliated party, for exercising appellate rights under this section; or delay or deny any agency action that would benefit a financial institution or any institution-affiliated party on the basis that an appeal under this section is pending under this section. .