Data Transparency Coalition – “Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and a bipartisan group of cosponsors will introduce the Financial Transparency Act of 2015 at a press conference tomorrow at 2 pm in room 2226 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Supporters of open data and the public are welcome to attend. Issa’s office issued a media advisory late Monday evening confirming he will introduce the Financial Transparency Act, a broad mandate for open data throughout U.S. financial regulatory reporting. The Financial Transparency Act, originally known as the MADOFF Transparency Act, would require each of the nine main financial regulators to adopt standardized data fields and formats for the information they collect under the securities, commodities, and banking laws. By replacing document-based reports with searchable, open data, the Financial Transparency Act promises to deliver data-driven decision-making for investors, help regulators deploy analytics to carry out their missions, and allow regulated entities to automate compliance tasks. The Financial Transparency Act is based on a proposal that received unanimous House approval from Republicans and Democrats during the consideration of the Dodd-Frank financial reform Law but was defeated by the Senate. The Financial Transparency Act also builds on the legacy of last year’s Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act). Just as the unanimously-passed DATA Act transforms federal spending into open data through the adoption of consistent data standards, the Financial Transparency Act will deliver a similar transformation for the information that financial regulators collect and publish.”