My question on this portion of the financial reform bill is how is it going to affect Enterprise Risk Management going forward. Do you have a robust Applicant tracking system? If not let's talk.
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November 27, 2010 — 10:24am ET
By Jim Kim
One little discussed aspect of the Dodd-Frank reform law is Section 342, which requires the creation of 20 Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion at regulatory agencies, including the SEC, the FDIC, the OCC, the Treasury, all Federal Reserve banks and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
"Once established, the offices are charged with monitoring the diversity at the agencies as well as at any contractors or subcontractors, including law firms, accounting firms and investment banks," notes the New York Times. "These contracts, totaling in the billions a year, are typically awarded to private firms for services like debt issuances and sales of government assets, as well as more general advisory services."
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The goal, of course, is to provide some leverage for correcting racial and gender imbalances in certain industries. Specifically, the bill holds that if an agency's compliance director concludes that a contractor has not made "a good faith effort to include minorities and women in its work force," contracts could be canceled. The clause also requires agencies to recruit at historically black universities and women's colleges, sponsor job fairs in urban areas and file yearly reports.
This has the potential to arouse some political passions. Some have criticized the Section for its redundancy with other nondiscrimination laws. Others think it is an attempt by the government to impose quotas on banks, law firms and all government contractors, of which there are many. What do you think?
