§ 1422b. Powers and duties

(a) General powers

The Board shall have the following powers:

(1) To supervise the Federal Home Loan Banks and to promulgate and enforce such regulations and orders as are necessary from time to time to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

(2) To suspend or remove for cause a director, officer, employee, or agent of any Federal Home Loan Bank or joint office. The cause of such suspension or removal shall be communicated in writing to such director, officer, employee, or agent and to such Bank or joint office. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no officer, employee, or agent of a Bank or joint office shall be a Federal officer or employee under any definition of either term in title 5.

(3) To determine necessary expenditures of the Board under this chapter and the manner in which such expenditures shall be incurred, allowed, and paid.

(4) To use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as a department or agency of the United States.

(5) To issue and serve a notice of charges upon a Federal home loan bank or upon any executive officer or director of a Federal home loan bank if, in the determination of the Finance Board, the Bank, executive officer, or director is engaging or has engaged in, or the Finance Board has reasonable cause to believe that the Bank, executive officer, or director is about to engage in an unsafe or unsound practice in conducting the business of the bank, or any conduct that violates any provision of this chapter or any law, order, rule, or regulation or any condition imposed in writing by the Finance Board in connection with the granting of any application or other request by the Bank, or any written agreement entered into by the Bank with the agency, in accordance with the procedures provided in subsection (c) or (f) of section 1371 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 [12 U.S.C. 4631]. Such authority includes the same authority to issue an order requiring a party to take affirmative action to correct conditions resulting from violations or practices or to limit activities of a Bank or any executive officer or director of a Bank as appropriate Federal banking agencies have to take with respect to insured depository institutions under paragraphs (6) and (7) of section 1818 (b) of this title, and to have all other powers, rights, and duties to enforce this chapter with respect to the Federal home loan banks and their executive officers and directors as the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has to enforce the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 [12 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.], the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act [12 U.S.C. 1716 et seq.], or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act [12 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.] with respect to the Federal housing enterprises under subtitle C [12 U.S.C. 4631 et seq.] (other than section 1371 [12 U.S.C. 4631]) of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992.

(6) To address any insufficiencies in capital levels resulting from the application of section 1464 (f) of this title.

(7) To act in its own name and through its own attorneys—

(A) in enforcing any provision of this chapter or any regulation promulgated under this chapter; or

(B) in any action, suit, or proceeding to which the Finance Board is a party that involves the Board’s regulation or supervision of any Federal home loan bank.

(b) Staff

(1) Board staff

Subject to title IV of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, the Board may employ, direct, and fix the compensation and number of employees, attorneys, and agents of the Federal Housing Finance Board, except that in no event shall the Board delegate any function to any employee, administrative unit of any Bank, or joint office of the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The prohibition contained in the preceding sentence shall not apply to the delegation of ministerial functions including issuing consolidated obligations pursuant to section 1431 (b) of this title. In directing and fixing such compensation, the Board shall consult with and maintain comparability with the compensation at the Federal bank regulatory agencies. Such compensation shall be paid without regard to the provisions of other laws applicable to officers or employees of the United States, except the Chairperson and other Directors shall be compensated as prescribed in sections 5314 and 5315 of title 5, respectively.

(2) Abolition of joint offices

The joint or collective offices of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, except for the Office of Finance, are hereby abolished.

Receipts of the Board derived from assessments levied upon the Federal Home Loan Banks and from other sources (other than receipts from the sale of consolidated Federal Home Loan Bank bonds and debentures issued under section 1431 of this title) shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States. Salaries of the directors and other employees of the Board and all other expenses thereof may be paid from such assessments or other sources and shall not be construed to be Government Funds or appropriated monies, or subject to apportionment for the purposes of chapter 15 of title 31, or any other authority.

(d) Annual report

The Board shall make an annual report to the Congress.