H.R. 5270 · Where this bill is now
Waiting for a House vote
Approved by committee Nov 4, 2025; no House vote yet
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryFed's Stress Tests Get More Transparent
The Federal Reserve regularly runs stress tests on big banks and large financial companies to see how they'd handle a serious economic crisis. Right now, a lot of those test details stay behind closed doors. This bill would require the Fed to publicly share the models, assumptions, and methods it uses to run these tests, and to disclose the economic scenarios it tests each year. It also sets rules about how the Fed can change its testing approach and prevents it from making major changes without going through a formal rulemaking process. The bill prohibits the Fed from conducting climate-related stress tests and requires an independent audit of how well these stress tests actually work.
How it affects you
If you have money in a bank or own stock in financial companies, this could matter to you indirectly. By making stress test details public, the bill aims to help investors, regulators, and the public better understand how strong our major financial institutions really are during tough times. Business leaders at large banks and financial firms will face clearer, more consistent rules about these tests. Most everyday Americans won't notice a direct change, but the goal is to prevent the kind of financial instability that affects everyone's economy.
Read the official summary (Reported to House, Nov 4, 2025)
Stress Testing Accountability and Transparency Act
This bill requires the Federal Reserve Board to make public certain details concerning annual stress tests performed by the board and prohibits certain stress test practices. (Stress tests assess a financial institution’s response to a hypothetical disruptive economic event. The board sets an institution’s capital requirements or stress capital buffer based on the results.)
Specifically, the bill requires the board to issue a rule that establishes the models, assumptions, and methods used by the board to perform annual stress tests on certain nonbank financial companies and large bank holding companies. The board must also issue a rule determining the stress capital buffer requirement for certain companies that have at least two results from periodic stress tests. In addition, the board must disclose annually each scenario to be used in stress testing.
Further, the board is prohibited from materially changing stress test methodologies outside of the rulemaking process. The board must also ensure that stress capital buffer requirements and risk-based capital requirements do not contain capital requirements for the same risks. The board is also prohibited from performing climate-related stress tests.
The Government Accountability Office must report on the effectiveness of the stress tests every three years.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionH. R. 5270
A BILL
Stress Testing Accountability and Transparency Act
Sponsor: Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI-4) · Introduced Sep 10, 2025 · Finance and Financial Sector · 2 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Nov 4, 2025: “Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 318.”
Numbers that changed
Dollar amounts, dates and percentages, taken word for word from the text| Section | Where | Before | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sec. 3Time period | Rulemaking relating to stress testing…this section, the Board shall, not less than 60 days before conducting a stress test pursuant to section…Introduced → Committee version | 30 days | 60 days |
Listed only when one value replaced another and the surrounding words stayed the same. Open a section to read the full wording.