GAO Reviews U.S. Banking Role in Global Standards

A Government Accountability Office report examines how U.S. banking regulators shaped 22 international financial standards and more than 120 guidelines.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Financial Services

Isometric editorial illustration of unmarked steel shipping containers stacked at a waterfront port beside a single crane, in muted oxblood, teal, and mustard. — The Government Accountability Office reviewed how FDIC, Federal Reserve, and OCC officials helped shape 22 international financial standards and more than 120 guidelines over 15 years. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

The Government Accountability Office published a report studying how the FDIC, Federal Reserve, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency participated in international standard-setting bodies from 2010 to 2025. U.S. banking agencies helped develop 22 international financial standards and at least 120 guidelines over 15 years.

Why it matters

The report examines how U.S. regulators engage with global bodies whose standards are not legally binding on the United States but are expected to be implemented by participating countries. Congress requested the study, which bears on how U.S. banking rules are shaped beyond domestic lawmaking.

Under the GAO's review, U.S. banking agencies developed 22 international financial standards and at least 120 guidelines over 15 years. Of the 27 rules the U.S. proposed to implement Basel standards, 18 have been finalized, leaving nine not yet finalized.

The players

Government Accountability Office

The GAO is the independent, nonpartisan audit agency of the U.S. Congress that conducts studies and investigations of federal programs and spending.

Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States, responsible for monetary policy and the supervision of certain banks and financial institutions.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

The FDIC is an independent U.S. agency that insures deposits at member banks and supervises certain financial institutions.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

The OCC is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that charters, regulates, and supervises national banks and federal savings associations.

The details

Banking agencies used multilayered internal review processes to oversee their participation, with senior officials reviewing staff work and agency leaders approving policy positions and representing their agencies in key meetings. The Federal Reserve is a member of the Basel Committee, the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, the Financial Stability Board, and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, and all three agencies are active members of the Basel Committee.

2010 to 2025: period of U.S. banking agency participation in international standard-setting bodies studied by the GAO.
November 9, 2026: GAO publishes the report on banking agency involvement.

Global Rulemaking Context

The U.S. has no legal obligation to adopt Basel standards, yet its banking agencies have proposed 27 rules to implement them and finalized 18. The GAO review places that domestic rulemaking within the agencies' longer record of shaping international standards through the Basel Committee.

Banks operating under U.S. rules may see further Basel-based requirements as the nine remaining proposed rules move toward finalization. Consumers and depositors are not directly affected by the report's findings.

The takeaway

The report shows that international financial standards shape U.S. banking rules through agency participation even though they are not legally binding. Watching how the outstanding Basel-implementation rules are finalized will show how that influence plays out in practice.