This Wednesday, Dec. 2, the Congressional Transparency Caucus — chaired by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill. — will host a discussion focused on the need for better data in financial regulation. The event will be held in room 2226 of the Rayburn House Office Building and kick off at 11:00 am.

As it stands, many financial regulatory agencies are stuck in the past, relying on hard to parse PDF documents and other formats that are not optimized for modern technology. The Financial Transparency Act aims to change this by requiring financial regulatory agencies to adopt consistent data standards. The bipartisan legislation would also add a much needed layer of transparency to information that agencies are currently making public in outdated formats.

I am excited to join this discussion and make the case for better data and more transparency in the financial regulatory environment. Watchdogs, academics, journalists and private citizens deserve the opportunity to access and analyze this information in the most efficient ways possible.

The event will feature opening remarks by Issa and Quigley as well as feature a discussion with panelists including:

• Dr. Allan Mendelowitz, President of the ACTUS Financial Research Foundation; Co-Founder and Co-Leader, Committee to Establish the National Institute of Finance; Former Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors, Federal Housing Finance Board
• Daniel Castro, Director of the Center for Data Innovation and Vice President at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
• Matt Rumsey, Senior Policy Analyst and Director of the Advisory Committee on Transparency at the Sunlight Foundation

If you’re interested in joining the discussion, please RSVP here.