Union Calendar No. 535
119th CONGRESS 2d Session |
[Report No. 119–617]
To make improvements to the Federal banking laws, and for other purposes.
January 7, 2026
Mr. Hill of Arkansas (for himself, Mr. Barr, Mr. Huizenga, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Sessions, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Williams of Texas, Mr. Emmer, Mr. Loudermilk, Mr. Davidson, Mr. Rose, Mr. Steil, Mr. Timmons, Mr. Stutzman, Mr. Norman, Mr. Meuser, Mrs. Kim, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Garbarino, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Flood, Mr. Lawler, Ms. De La Cruz, Mr. Ogles, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Mrs. McClain, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Downing, Mr. Haridopolos, and Mr. Moore of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
April 20, 2026
Additional sponsors: Mr. Kennedy of Utah, Mr. Knott, Mr. Calvert, and Mrs. Fedorchak
April 20, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 7, 2026]
To make improvements to the Federal banking laws, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
(a) Short title.—This Act may be cited as the “Main Street Capital Access Act” or the “Main Street Act”.
(b) Table of contents.—The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 101. Promoting New Bank Formation.
Sec. 102. New Bank Application Numbers Knowledge.
Sec. 103. Rural Depositories Revitalization Studies.
Sec. 104. Community Investment and Prosperity.
Sec. 105. CDFI Fund Transparency.
Sec. 106. CDFI Bond Guarantee Improvement.
Sec. 201. Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk.
Sec. 202. Small Bank Holding Company Relief.
Sec. 203. Community Bank Leverage Improvement and Flexibility for Transparency.
Sec. 204. Tailoring and Indexing Enhanced Regulations.
Sec. 205. Community Bank Regulatory Tailoring.
Sec. 206. Credit Union Board Modernization.
Sec. 301. Halting Uncertain Methods and Practices in Supervision.
Sec. 302. Fair Audits and Inspections for Regulators’ Exams.
Sec. 303. Supervisory Modifications for Appropriate Risk-based Testing.
Sec. 304. Tailored Regulatory Updates for Supervisory Testing.
Sec. 305. Financial Integrity and Regulation Management.
Sec. 401. FDIC Board Accountability.
Sec. 402. Stop Agency Fiat Enforcement of Guidance.
Sec. 403. Regulatory Efficiency, Verification, Itemization, and Enhanced Workflow.
Sec. 404. American Financial Institution Regulatory Sovereignty and Transparency.
Sec. 501. Bringing the Discount Window into the 21st Century.
Sec. 502. Keeping Deposits Local.
Sec. 503. Community Bank Deposit Access.
Sec. 601. Bank Competition Modernization.
Sec. 602. Merger Agreement Approvals Clarity and Predictability.
Sec. 603. Merger Process Review.
Sec. 604. Bank Failure Prevention.
Sec. 701. Least Cost Exception.
Sec. 702. Enhancing Bank Resolution Participation.
Sec. 703. Failing Bank Acquisition Fairness.
Sec. 704. Systemic Risk Authority Transparency.
Sec. 801. Merchant Banking Modernization.
Sec. 802. Bank-Fintech Partnership Enhancement.
(a) Phase-In of capital standards.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Federal banking agencies shall issue rules that provide for a 3-year phase-in period for a depository institution or depository institution holding company to meet any Federal capital requirements that would otherwise be applicable to the depository institution or depository institution holding company, beginning on—
(b) Changes to business plans.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—During the 3-year period beginning on the date on which a depository institution became an insured depository institution, if, as a condition of approval, the appropriate Federal banking agency imposes a requirement to obtain prior approval before deviating from a business plan, the insured depository institution or its depository institution holding company may request to deviate materially from a business plan that has been approved by the appropriate Federal banking agency by submitting a request to such agency pursuant to this section.
(c) Rural community depository institution leverage ratio.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—During the 3-year period beginning on the date on which a rural depository institution became an insured depository institution, the Community Bank Leverage Ratio for the rural community bank shall be the lesser of—
(A) the Community Bank Leverage Ratio adopted by the Federal banking agencies pursuant to section 201(b)(1) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5371 note); or
(2) PHASE-IN AUTHORITY.—The Federal banking agencies shall issue rules to phase-in the Community Bank Leverage Ratio described under paragraph (1) with respect to a rural depository institution by setting lower Community Bank Leverage Ratio percentages during the first 2 years of the 3-year period described under paragraph (1).
(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
(A) COMMUNITY BANK LEVERAGE RATIO.—The term “Community Bank Leverage Ratio” has the meaning given that term under section 201(a) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5371 note).
(B) RURAL AREA.—The term “rural area” means—
(i) a county that is neither in a metropolitan statistical area nor in a micropolitan statistical area that is adjacent to a metropolitan statistical area, as those terms are defined by the Office of Management and Budget and as they are applied under applicable Urban Influence Codes, established by the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service; or
(d) Agricultural loan authority for Federal savings associations.—Section 5(c) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1464(c)) is amended—
(e) Study on de novo insured depository institutions.—
(1) STUDY.—The Federal banking agencies shall, jointly, carry out a study on—
(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal banking agencies shall, jointly, issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and determinations made in carrying out the study required under paragraph (1).
(f) Definitions.—In this section, the terms “appropriate Federal banking agency”, “depository institution”, “depository institution holding company”, “Federal banking agency”, and “insured depository institution” have the meaning given those terms, respectively, under section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).
(a) Annual report on national bank and Federal savings association charter applications.—The Comptroller of the Currency shall publish an annual report that includes the following, or with respect to any equivalent procedure used by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency includes the following:
(b) Annual report on Federal credit union charter applications.—The National Credit Union Administration shall publish an annual report that includes the following, or with respect to any equivalent procedure used by the Board includes the following:
(c) Annual report on depository institution holding company applications.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall publish an annual report that includes the following, or with respect to any equivalent procedure used by the Board of Governors includes the following:
(2) TOP-TIER DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION HOLDING COMPANY DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term “top-tier depository institution holding company” means a depository institution holding company (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)) that is not controlled by any other depository institution holding company.
(d) Annual report on Federal deposit insurance applications.—The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall publish an annual report that includes the following, or with respect to any equivalent procedure used by the Corporation includes the following:
(e) Annual report on State depository institution and State credit union charter applications.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration Board shall, jointly, and in consultation with State banking regulators and State credit union regulators, publish an annual report that includes the following, or with respect to any equivalent procedure used by such agencies includes the following:
(A) The number of applications for a State depository institution charter received, approved on a preliminary basis, approved on a final basis, denied, withdrawn, inactive, expired, mooted, returned, returned pending resubmission, or otherwise dispositioned.
(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
(A) STATE.—The term “State” means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any territory of the United States.
(B) STATE DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term “State depository institution” means—
(i) a State depository institution, as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and
(ii) a State credit union, as defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
(a) Study on rural depository institutions.—The Federal banking agencies shall, jointly, carry out a study—
(b) Report on rural depository institutions.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal banking agencies shall, jointly, issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and determinations made in carrying out the study required under subsection (a).
(c) Study on rural credit unions.—The National Credit Union Administration shall carry out a study—
(d) Report on rural credit unions.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Credit Union Administration shall issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and determinations made in carrying out the study required under subsection (c).
(e) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term “depository institution” has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).
(2) FEDERAL BANKING AGENCIES.—The term “Federal banking agencies” means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
(3) INSURED CREDIT UNION.—The term “insured credit union” has the meaning given that term in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
(4) RURAL AREA.—The term “rural area” means—
(A) a county that is neither in a metropolitan statistical area nor in a micropolitan statistical area that is adjacent to a metropolitan statistical area, as those terms are defined by the Office of Management and Budget and as they are applied under applicable Urban Influence Codes, established by the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service; or
(a) Revised Statutes of the United States.—The paragraph designated as the “Eleventh” of section 5136 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (12 U.S.C. 24) is amended, in the fifth sentence, by striking “15” each place that term appears and inserting “20”.
(b) Federal Reserve Act.—The 23rd paragraph of section 9 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 338a) is amended, in the fifth sentence, by striking “15” each place that term appears and inserting “20”.
Section 104(b) of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4703(b)) is amended by adding to the end the following:
“(5) ANNUAL TESTIMONY.—The Secretary of the Treasury (or a designee of the Secretary) shall, at the discretion of the Chair of the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Chair of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, annually testify before such committees (or a subcommittee of such committees) regarding the operations of the Fund during the previous year.”.
(a) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that the authority to guarantee bonds under section 114A of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4713a) (commonly referred to as the “CDFI Bond Guarantee Program”) provides community development financial institutions with a sustainable source of long-term capital and furthers the mission of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (established under section 104(a) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 4703(a))) to increase economic opportunity and promote community development investments for underserved populations and distressed communities in the United States.
(b) Guarantees for bonds and notes issued for community or economic development purposes.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 114A of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4713a) is amended—
(A) in subsection (c)(2)—
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–325; 108 Stat. 2160) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 114 the following:
“Sec. 114A. Guarantees for bonds and notes issued for community or economic development purposes.”.
(c) Report on the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives on the effectiveness of the CDFI bond guarantee program established under section 114A of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4713a).
(a) Tailoring regulation to business model and risk.—
(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection—
(A) the term “Federal financial institutions regulatory agency” means the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection; and
(2) CONSIDERATION AND TAILORING.—For any regulatory action occurring after the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall—
(A) take into consideration the risk profile and business models of each type of institution or class of institutions subject to the regulatory action; and
(B) tailor the regulatory action applicable to an institution, or type of institution, in a manner that limits the regulatory impact, including cost, human resource allocation, and other burdens, on the institution or type of institution as is appropriate for the risk profile and business model involved.
(3) FACTORS TO CONSIDER.—In carrying out the requirements of paragraph (2) with respect to a regulatory action, each Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall consider—
(A) the aggregate effect of all applicable regulatory actions on the ability of institutions to flexibly serve customers of the institutions and local markets on and after the date of enactment of this Act;
(4) NOTICE OF PROPOSED AND FINAL RULEMAKING.—Each Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall disclose and document in every notice of proposed rulemaking and in any final rulemaking for a regulatory action how the agency has applied paragraphs (2) and (3).
(5) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—
(A) AGENCY REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, each Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a report on the specific actions taken to tailor the regulatory actions of the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency pursuant to the requirements of this section.
(B) GAO REPORTING.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a report evaluating the effects of this section on the factors described in paragraph (3).
(b) Short-form call reports for all banks eligible for the community bank leverage ratio.—The appropriate Federal banking agencies, as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813), shall promulgate regulations establishing a reduced reporting requirement for all banks eligible for the Community Bank Leverage Ratio, as defined in section 201(a) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5371 note), when making the first and third report of condition of a year as required by section 7(a) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(a)).
(c) Report to Congress on modernization of supervision.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the appropriate Federal banking agencies, as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813), in consultation with State bank supervisors, shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a report on the modernization of bank supervision, including the following factors:
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall revise appendix C to part 225 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations (commonly known as the “Small Bank Holding Company and Savings and Loan Holding Company Policy Statement”), to raise the consolidated asset threshold under that appendix to $6,000,000,000 for any bank holding company or savings and loan holding company.
(a) Community Bank Leverage Ratio.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5371 note) is amended—
(2) RULEMAKING DEADLINE.—Not later than the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, and after reviewing the report issued pursuant to subsection (b)(2), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall propose and, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, such agencies shall finalize rules to carry out the amendments made by paragraph (1) and the recommended modifications contained in such report.
(b) Review of the Community Bank Leverage Ratio.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall commence a review of the Community Bank Leverage Ratio (“CBLR”) developed under section 201 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5371 note), and rules issued thereunder, which shall include a consideration of how to modify and calibrate the CBLR to encourage more qualifying community banks to opt-in to the CBLR framework, with an additional focus on—
(2) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 150-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing—
(B) specific recommendations on modifications, if any, to—
(ii) the treatment of specific asset classes or exposures to better reflect the risk profiles of community banks;
(3) QUALIFYING COMMUNITY BANK DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term “qualifying community bank” has the meaning given that term in section 201(a)(3)(A) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5371 note).
(a) Threshold adjustments To account for historical increases in current-Dollar United States gross domestic product.—
(1) FEDERAL RESERVE ACT.—Section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 248) is amended—
(2) BANK HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1956.—Section 4(k)(6)(B)(ii) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843(k)(6)(B)(ii)) is amended by striking “$10,000,000,000” and inserting “$15,000,000,000”.
(3) FINANCIAL STABILITY ACT OF 2010.—The Financial Stability Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5311 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 116(a) (12 U.S.C. 5326(a)), by striking “$250,000,000,000” and inserting “$370,000,000,000”;
(B) in section 121(a) (12 U.S.C. 5331(a)), by striking “$250,000,000,000” and inserting “$370,000,000,000”;
(C) in section 163(b) (12 U.S.C. 5363(b))—
(D) in section 164 (12 U.S.C. 5364), by striking “$250,000,000,000” and inserting “$370,000,000,000”; and
(E) in section 165 (12 U.S.C. 5365)—
(4) ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT.—Section 401(f) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5365 note) is amended by striking “$250,000,000,000” and inserting “$370,000,000,000”.
(b) Periodic adjustments to thresholds To account for future increases in current-Dollar United States gross domestic product.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Financial Stability Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5311 et seq.) is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 177. Periodic adjustments to thresholds to account for increases in current-dollar United States gross domestic product.
“(a) In general.—By April 1, 2031, and the 1st day of each subsequent 5-year period, the Board of Governors shall increase the thresholds described in subsection (b) by the ratio, if greater than 1, of the annual value of current-dollar United States gross domestic product, published by the Department of Commerce, for the calendar year preceding the year in which the adjustment is calculated under this section, to the published annual value of such index for the calendar year preceding April 1, 2026.
“(b) Covered thresholds.—The thresholds described in this subsection are the following:
“(1) Each bank holding company or savings and loan holding company total consolidated asset amount in the second subsection (s) (relating to assessments) of section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act.
“(c) Currency of information.—The values used in the calculation under subsection (a) shall be, as of the date of the calculation, the values most recently published by the Department of Commerce.
“(d) Rounding.—
“SEC. 178. Adjustments to thresholds established by rule to account for increases in current-dollar United States gross domestic product.
“(a) Agency review.—Not later than June 30, 2026, and the 1st day of each subsequent 5-year period, the Board of Governors, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Corporation shall, to the extent applicable, review—
“(2) any asset threshold or other quantitative threshold in such regulations implementing section 165 of this Act, or in such regulations making specific cross-reference to any regulation of the Board of Governors implementing section 165 of this Act, the amount of which is not prescribed by statute.
“(b) Modifications required.—The Board of Governors, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Corporation shall modify any such thresholds identified by each review conducted under subsection (a) by the ratio, if greater than 1, of the annual value of current-dollar United States gross domestic product, published by the Department of Commerce, for the calendar year preceding the year in which the modification is calculated under this section, to the published annual value of such index for the calendar year preceding the effective date of such threshold, as each respective agency shall determine as appropriate for such regulations. In making such determination, the Board of Governors, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Corporation shall—
“(1) use the values for current-dollar United States gross domestic product most recently published by the Department of Commerce as of the date of commencement of the review;
“(c) Report.—Upon conclusion of each review required under subsection (a), each of the Board of Governors, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Corporation shall transmit a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing a description of any modification of any regulation such agency made pursuant to subsection (b).”.
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 176 the following:
“Sec. 177. Periodic adjustments to thresholds to account for increases in current-dollar United States gross domestic product.
“Sec. 178. Adjustments to thresholds established by rule to account for increases in current-dollar United States gross domestic product.”.
(a) Threshold adjustments to account for historical increases in current-dollar United States Gross Domestic Product.—
(1) BANK HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1956.—The Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 5(c)(3)(C)(ii) (12 U.S.C. 1844(c)(3)(C)(ii)), by striking “$1,000,000” and inserting “$3,000,000”; and
(B) in section 13(h)(1)(B)(i) (12 U.S.C. 1851(h)(1)(B)(i)), by striking “$10,000,000,000” and inserting “$15,000,000,000”.
(2) COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT OF 1977.—Section 809(a) of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (12 U.S.C. 2908(a)) is amended by striking “$250,000,000” and inserting “$800,000,000”.
(3) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION MANAGEMENT INTERLOCKS ACT.—The Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act (12 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 202(4) (12 U.S.C. 3201(4)), by striking “$100,000,000” and inserting “$600,000,000”;
(B) in section 203(1) (12 U.S.C. 3202(1)), by striking “$50,000,000” and inserting “$110,000,000”; and
(C) in section 204 (12 U.S.C. 3203)—
(4) DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT.—The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 210 (12 U.S.C. 5390)—
(B) in section 956(f) (12 U.S.C. 5641(f)), by striking “$1,000,000,000” and inserting “$3,000,000,000”.
(5) FEDERAL CREDIT UNION ACT.—The Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 202 (12 U.S.C. 1782)—
(B) in section 216 (12 U.S.C. 1790d)—
(6) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT.—The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 7(a)(12) (12 U.S.C. 1817(a)(12)), by striking “$5,000,000,000” and inserting “$8,000,000,000”;
(B) in section 11(p)(1)(A)(i) (12 U.S.C. 1821(p)(1)(A)(i)), by striking “$1,000,000” and inserting “$5,000,000”;
(C) in section 36 (12 U.S.C. 1831m)—
(D) in section 38 (12 U.S.C. 1831o)—
(7) FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK ACT.—Section 2(10) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (12 U.S.C. 1422(10)) is amended by striking “$1,000,000,000” each place that term appears and inserting “$3,000,000,000”.
(8) FEDERAL RESERVE ACT.—The Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 221 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 7(a)(1) (12 U.S.C. 289) by striking “$10,000,000,000” each place that term appears and inserting “$17,000,000,000”; and
(B) in section 22(h)(5)(C) (12 U.S.C. 375b(h)(5)(C)) by striking “$100,000,000” and inserting “$500,000,000”.
(9) HOME MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1975.—The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in the second paragraph (3) of section 304(i) (12 U.S.C. 2803(i)(3); relating to “Exemption from certain disclosure requirements”), by striking “$30,000,000” and inserting “$160,000,000”; and
(B) in section 309(a) (12 U.S.C. 2808(a)), by striking “$10,000,000” and inserting “$180,000,000”.
(10) HOME OWNERS’ LOAN ACT.—Section 5(u) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1464(u)) is amended—
(11) INTERNATIONAL LENDING SUPERVISION ACT OF 1983.—Section 909(a)(1) of the International Lending Supervision Act of 1983 (12 U.S.C. 3908(a)(1)) is amended by striking “$20,000,000” and inserting “$160,000,000”.
(12) REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT OF 1974.—Section 3(1)(B)(iv) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2602(1)(B)(iv)) is amended by striking “$1,000,000” and inserting “$19,000,000”.
(13) REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES.—Section 5136A(a)(2)(D)(ii) of the Revised Statutes of the United States (12 U.S.C. 24a(a)(2)(D)(ii)) is amended by striking “$50,000,000,000” and inserting “$175,000,000,000”.
(14) TRUTH IN LENDING ACT.—Section 129C(b)(2)(F)(i) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1639c(b)(2)(F)(i)) is amended by striking “$10,000,000,000” and inserting “$15,000,000,000”.
(b) Threshold adjustments to account for historical increases in current-dollar United States Gross Domestic Product.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—By April 1, 2031, and the 1st day of each subsequent 5-year period, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall prescribe the amount by which each dollar amount described in subsection (a) shall be increased by the ratio, if greater than 1, of the annual value of current-dollar United States gross domestic product, published by the Department of Commerce, for the calendar year preceding the year in which the adjustment is calculated under this subsection, to the published annual value of current-dollar United States gross domestic product for the calendar year preceding April 1, 2026.
(2) CURRENCY OF INFORMATION.—The values used in the calculation under paragraph (1) shall be, as of the date of the calculation, the values most recently published by the Department of Commerce.
(3) ROUNDING.—
(A) If any amount equal to or greater than $100,000,000,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $50,000,000,000, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $50,000,000,000.
(B) If any amount less than $100,000,000,000 but equal to or greater than $10,000,000,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $5,000,000,000, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $5,000,000,000.
(C) If any amount less than $10,000,000,000 but equal to or greater than $1,000,000,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $500,000,000, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $500,000,000.
(D) If any amount less than $1,000,000,000 but equal to or greater than $100,000,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $50,000,000, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $50,000,000.
(E) If any amount less than $100,000,000 but equal to or greater than $10,000,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $5,000,000, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $5,000,000.
(F) If any amount less than $10,000,000 but equal to or greater than $1,000,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $500,000, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $500,000.
(G) If any amount less than $1,000,000 but equal to or greater than $100,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $50,000, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $50,000.
(H) If any amount less than $100,000 but equal to or greater than $10,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $5,000, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $5,000.
(I) If any amount less than $10,000 but equal to or greater than $1,000 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $500, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $500.
(J) If any amount less than $1,000 but equal to or greater than $100 determined under paragraph (1) for any period is not a multiple of $50, the amount shall be rounded up to the nearest $50.
Section 113 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1761b) is amended—
(2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “The board of directors” and inserting the following:
(4) by adding at the end the following:
“(b) Meetings.—The board of directors of a Federal credit union shall meet as follows:
“(1) With respect to a de novo Federal credit union, not less frequently than monthly during each of the first five years of the existence of such Federal credit union.
“(2) Not less than six times annually, with at least one meeting held during each fiscal quarter, with respect to a Federal credit union—
(a) Findings.—Congress finds that—
(1) CAMELS ratings (Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity to market risk) are a critical tool for evaluating the safety and soundness of financial institutions, and the basis for determining significant regulatory matters such as the evaluation for mergers and acquisitions and a bank’s deposit insurance premiums;
(2) the CAMELS rating system relies heavily on examiner judgment, which can lead to subjective and inconsistent ratings across similar institutions;
(b) Amendments to the CAMELS Rating System.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 1012. Amendments to the CAMELS Rating System.
“(a) In general.—The Council shall make recommendations to amend the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System, and the CAMELS components thereunder, to—
“(2) revise the factors affecting each CAMELS component to derive a composite rating that more accurately reflects the material financial condition and risk profile of the financial institutions being rated;
“(4) ensure that composite ratings consider the financial institution’s compliance with—
“(A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1829b);
“(B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91–508 (12 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.);
“(C) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code; and
“(b) Rulemaking.—Not later than 12 months after the Council makes the recommendations required under subsection (a), the Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies shall, jointly, issue rules to carry out the recommendations described under subsection (a).
(2) WELL MANAGED DEFINITION.—Section 2(o)(9)(A) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841(o)(9)(A)) is amended—
(a) Timeliness of examinations and examination reports.—The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), as amended by section 301(b)(1), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 1013. Timeliness of examinations and examination reports.
“(a) Timeliness of examinations.—A Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall complete any examination of a financial institution, other than a financial institution subject to a continuous or resident examination program, within 270 days of commencing the examination, except that such period may be extended by the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency by providing written notice to the financial institution describing with particularity the reasons that a longer period is needed.
“(b) Final examination report.—A Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall provide a final examination report to a financial institution, other than a financial institution subject to a continuous or resident examination program, not later than 90 days after the later of—
“(c) Exit interview requirement.—Within 30 days of completing an examination for a financial institution not subject to a continuous or resident examination program, a Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall conduct an exit interview with the financial institution’s senior management or the board of directors, except that such period may be extended by the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency by providing written notice to the institution describing with particularity the reasons that a longer period is needed to complete the exit interview.
“(d) Examination materials.—Upon the written request of a financial institution, the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall include with the final report an appendix listing all examination or other factual information relied upon by the agency in support of a material supervisory determination.”.
(b) Timeliness of required prudential private letter rulings.—The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), as amended by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 1014. Timeliness of required prudential private letter rulings.
“(a) Authority and regulation.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall establish procedures providing that a covered financial institution may, upon application by the covered financial institution and with respect to a covered action, obtain written advice regarding—
“(b) Contents of request.—The procedures established under subsection (a) shall provide that a request for written advice made under the procedures shall be in writing and contain—
“(c) Response to request.—A Federal financial institutions regulatory agency receiving a request for written advice under subsection (a) shall, not later than 30 days after receiving the request—
“(1) provide the financial institution making the request with written notification that the agency received the request and stating whether the request contains all of the information required under subsection (b); and
“(d) Providing missing information.—If a Federal financial institutions regulatory agency informs the financial institution under subsection (c) that the request for written advice does not contain all the information required under subsection (b), the financial institution may provide the missing information to the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency during the 30-day period beginning on the date the financial institution receives the explanation of the missing information under subsection (c).
“(e) Determination.—A Federal financial institutions regulatory agency receiving a request for written advice under the procedures established under subsection (a) shall provide the financial institution with a written response (or, for purposes of paragraph (3), notify the financial institution that a determination cannot be made)—
“(1) if the initial request contains the information required under subsection (b), not later than the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency notifies the financial institution of the receipt of the request under subsection (c);
“(2) if the initial request does not contain the information required under subsection (b), but the financial institution provides the missing information during the 30-day period described under subsection (d), not later than the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date such missing information is provided; or
“(3) if the initial request does not contain the information required under subsection (b), and the financial institution does not provide the missing information during the 30-day period described under subsection (d), not later than the end of the 60-day period beginning on the end of such 30-day period.
“(f) Limited binding effect.—Written advice issued by a Federal financial institutions regulatory agency under the procedures established under this section—
“(1) shall be binding on the agency with respect to the financial institution requesting the written advice and the specific facts described in the request;
“(g) Confidentiality and privilege.—
“(1) TREATMENT OF WRITTEN ADVICE.—Written advice issued under this section, and any materials submitted in connection therewith, and the fact that a request for written advice was made shall be treated as confidential supervisory information and exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.
“(h) Modification or revocation.—A Federal financial institutions regulatory agency may modify or revoke written advice issued under this section only if—
“(i) Reasonable fees.—Each Federal financial institutions regulatory agency may establish and collect a reasonable fee for the processing and issuance of any written advice issued under this section, and such fee—
(c) Office of Independent Examination Review.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), as amended by subsection (b), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 1015. Office of Independent Examination Review.
“(a) Establishment.—There is established in the Council an Office of Independent Examination Review (the ‘Office’).
“(b) Board of Independent Examination Review.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of the Office shall be the Board of Independent Examination Review, which shall be comprised of 3 members, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
“(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The President shall appoint 1 member of the Board from each of the following classes of individuals:
“(B) Individuals who are not, and were not during the previous 5-year period, employed by a Federal financial institutions regulatory agency or a Federal reserve bank and who—
“(3) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS SERVING AS A BOARD MEMBER.—The President may not appoint an individual as a member of the Board if the individual—
“(4) CONSULTATION.—In appointing members of the Board, the President shall consult with the Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies and financial institutions.
“(5) TERM.—
“(6) POLITICAL AFFILIATION.—Not more than 2 members of the Board shall be members of the same political party.
“(c) Staffing.—The Board is authorized to hire staff to support the activities of the Office of Independent Examination Review, and set the salaries of such staff. One-fifth of the costs and expenses of the Office, including the salaries of its employees, shall be paid by each of the Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies. Annual assessments for such share shall be levied by the Council based upon its projected budget for the year, and additional assessments may be made during the year if necessary.
“(d) Duties.—The Board shall—
“(1) receive and, at the discretion of the Board, investigate complaints from financial institutions, their representatives, or another entity acting on behalf of such institutions, concerning completed examinations, examination practices, or examination reports;
“(2) hold meetings, at least once every three months and in locations designed to encourage participation from all sections of the United States, with financial institutions, their representatives, or another entity acting on behalf of such institutions, to discuss examination procedures, examination practices, or examination policies;
“(3) review examination procedures of the Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies to ensure that the written examination policies of those agencies are being followed in practice and adhere to the standards for consistency;
“(4) conduct a continuing and regular program of examination quality assurance for all examination types conducted by the Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies;
“(6) report annually to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, and the Council, on the reviews carried out pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (5), including compliance with the requirements set forth in section 1014 regarding timeliness of examination reports, and the Board’s recommendations for improvements in examination procedures, practices, and policies.
“(e) Confidentiality.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board and the Council shall keep confidential—
“(A) all meetings, discussions, and information provided by financial institutions and Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies that involve confidential supervisory information or privileged information;
“(2) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A WAIVER.—Section 18(x) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1828(x)) shall apply to the submission of information to the Board by a financial institution or a Federal financial institutions regulatory agency to the same extent as such section 18(x) applies to the submission of information described in that section 18(x).
“(3) SHARING OF INFORMATION WITHOUT WAIVING PRIVILEGE.—The Board shall be considered a ‘covered agency’ for purposes of section 11(t) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1821(t)).”.
(2) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1003 of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3302) is amended—
(B) by adding at the end the following:
“(4) the term ‘Board’ means the Board of Independent Examination Review established under section 1015(b);
“(5) the term ‘material supervisory determination’ has the meaning given such term in section 309(c) of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994;
(d) Right to independent review of material supervisory determinations.—The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), as amended by subsection (c), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 1016. Right to independent review of material supervisory determinations.
“(a) In general.—A financial institution shall have the right to obtain an independent review, as described in this section, of a material supervisory determination contained in a final report of examination.
“(b) Notice.—
“(1) TIMING.—A financial institution seeking review of a material supervisory determination under this section shall file a written notice with the Board within 30 days after receiving the final report of examination that is the subject of such review.
“(2) EXTENSION.—The institution may file a written request with the Board for an extension of the 60-day time period described under paragraph (1), which shall state good cause for granting the extension. Such request shall be granted in the sole discretion of the Board.
“(3) IDENTIFICATION OF DETERMINATION.—The written notice shall—
“(A) identify the material supervisory determination that is the subject of the requested independent examination review;
“(4) INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE TO INSTITUTION.—An institution seeking a review of a material supervisory determination may, not later than 7 days after receiving the final examination report, request that the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency that made the material supervisory determination provide the institution with all examination and factual information relied upon by the agency in making the material supervisory determination. The agency shall provide that information to the institution not later than 14 days after receiving the request.
“(5) SUBMISSION OF RECORD.—After receiving a written notice of review from a financial institution under this subsection, the Board shall direct the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency that made the material supervisory determination under review to file with the Board the supervisory record of the examination resulting in the material supervisory determination under review.
“(c) Determination; right to hearing.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall—
“(2) RIGHT TO OBTAIN TESTIMONY.—A financial institution electing for a hearing under paragraph (1)(B) shall have the right the obtain testimony under oath from agency employees and obtain documents and other evidence at the hearing, or in advance of the hearing, according to procedures instituted by the Board consistent with those set forth under sections 556 and 557 of title 5, United States Code.
“(3) BASIS OF DECISION.—The Board shall issue a written decision based upon the record of the examination, supplemented by the record established at any hearing.
“(4) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Board’s review of a material supervisory determination being reviewed under this subsection shall be de novo, and the Board shall not defer to the opinions of examiners, but shall independently determine the appropriateness of the material supervisory determination based upon the relevant statutes, regulations, other appropriate guidance, and the evidentiary record.
“(5) POLICY MATTERS.—The Board shall conduct reviews under this section applying the policies, regulations, and interpretations of the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency that made the material supervisory determination under review in effect at the time the material supervisory determination was made.
“(e) Referral of violations.—If the Board, in carrying out this section, determines that a financial institution has violated a law or regulation, the Board shall refer such determination to the applicable Federal financial institutions regulatory agency.
“(f) Annual report.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall report annually to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, and the Council on actions taken under this section, including the types of issues that the Board has reviewed and the results of those reviews, including information on each final determination with respect to a material supervisory determination.
“(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—In reporting under paragraph (1), the Board shall redact information about individual financial institutions and any confidential supervisory information or privileged information shared by financial institutions, and shall anonymize any un-redacted information that could, in the aggregate, identify a financial institution.
“(g) Retaliation prohibited.—
“(h) Rulemaking.—The Board shall issue rules to establish procedures for hearings described under this section, including that—
“(i) Safety and soundness exception.—The appeal of a material supervisory determination by a financial institution under this section shall not affect the authority of a Federal financial institutions regulatory agency during the pendency of such appeal to enforce the material supervisory determination or to take an action based on such material supervisory determination, if the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency determines that such enforcement or action is necessary to ensure the immediate safety and soundness of the financial institution.”.
(e) Additional amendments.—
(1) REGULATORY APPEALS PROCESS, OMBUDSMAN, AND ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 309 of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4806) is amended—
(i) in the heading, by striking “REGULATORY APPEALS PROCESS, OMBUDSMAN,” and inserting “OMBUDSMAN” (and by conforming the item relating to such section in the table of contents accordingly);
(iii) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) as subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d), respectively;
(iv) in subsection (b), as so redesignated—
(v) in paragraph (1)(A) of subsection (c), as so redesignated—
(III) by adding at the end the following:
“(iv) any issue specifically listed in an exam report as a matter requiring attention by the institution’s management or board of directors; and
“(v) any suspension or removal of an institution’s status as eligible for expedited processing of applications, requests, notices, or filings on the grounds of a supervisory or compliance concern, regardless of whether that concern has been cited as a basis for a material supervisory determination or matter requiring attention in an examination report, provided that the conduct at issue did not involve violation of any criminal law; and”.
(B) EFFECT.—Nothing in this subsection affects the authority of a Federal banking agency (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)) or the National Credit Union Administration Board to take enforcement or other supervisory action.
(2) FEDERAL CREDIT UNION ACT.—Section 205(j) of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1785(j)) is amended by inserting “the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection,” before “the Administration” each place that term appears.
(3) FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINATION COUNCIL ACT.—The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 1003 (12 U.S.C. 3302)—
(i) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
(B) in section 1004(a)(4) (12 U.S.C. 3303), by striking “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau” and inserting “Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection”; and
(C) in section 1005 (12 U.S.C. 3304)—
(f) Election of forum for review of supervisory enforcement.—Section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1818) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
“(11) HEARING.—With respect to any notice properly issued and served upon a depository institution or institution-affiliated party under this subsection, such depository institution or institution-affiliated party shall be afforded a hearing before—
“(B) if such institution or person submits a request within 20 days after the issuance of the notice, the appropriate United States district court, and that court shall have jurisdiction to adjudicate all claims and requested remedies stated in the notice of charges, including those authorized under this subsection.”;
(2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following:
“(8) HEARING.—With respect to any notice properly issued and served upon an institution-affiliated party under this subsection, such institution-affiliated party shall be afforded a hearing before—
“(B) if such party submits a request for such hearing and forum within 20 days after the issuance of the notice, the appropriate United States district court, and that court shall have jurisdiction to adjudicate all claims and requested remedies stated in the notice, including those authorized under this subsection.”;
(3) in subsection (h)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking “(other than the hearing provided for in subsection (g)(3) of this section)” and inserting “(other than the hearing provided for in subsection (b)(11)(B), (e)(8)(B), (g)(3), or (i)(2)(H)(ii))”; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
“(4) Any hearing provided for in subsection (b)(11)(B), (e)(8)(B), or (i)(2)(H)(ii) shall be subject to the jurisdiction, powers, and equitable authority of the district court and be governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence.
“(5) Any final decision of a United States district court made pursuant to a respondent’s election under subsection (b)(11)(B), (e)(8)(B), or (i)(2)(H)(ii) shall be reviewable in the appropriate court of appeals in the same manner and to the same extent as any other civil action to which the United States is a party.”;
(4) in subsection (i)(2)—
(A) by amending subparagraph (E)(ii) to read as follows:
“(ii) FINALITY OF ASSESSMENT.—If, with respect to any assessment under clause (i), a hearing is not requested or an election is not made and timely noticed pursuant to subparagraph (H) within the period of time allowed under such subparagraph, the assessment shall constitute a final and unappealable order.”;
(B) by amending subparagraph (H) to read as follows:
“(H) HEARING.—The insured depository institution or institution-affiliated party against whom any penalty is assessed under this paragraph shall be afforded a hearing before—
(a) Examination relief for certain well managed and well capitalized financial institutions.—
(1) INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS.—Section 10(d) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1820(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(11) EXAMINATION RELIEF FOR CERTAIN WELL MANAGED AND WELL CAPITALIZED INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—The following shall apply to a well managed and well capitalized insured depository institution with $6,000,000,000 or less in consolidated assets:
“(i) ALTERNATING LIMITED-SCOPE EXAMINATIONS.—After an insured depository institution receives a full-scope, on-site examination from the appropriate Federal banking agency, the next examination of the insured depository institution by the appropriate Federal banking agency shall be a limited-scope examination, as determined by the appropriate Federal banking agency.
“(ii) COMBINED EXAMINATIONS.—If an insured depository institution is otherwise subject to separate safety and soundness examinations, consumer compliance examinations, and information technology and cybersecurity examinations, the appropriate Federal banking agency shall, upon request of the insured depository institution, combine two or three such examinations, as specified by the insured depository institution, and carry them out at the same time.
“(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an insured depository institution if—
“(C) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Federal banking agencies shall issue rules to carry out subparagraph (A), including, with respect to an insured depository institution described under subparagraph (A), to—
“(ii) establish procedures for reviewing insured depository institutions described under subparagraph (A), that—
“(iii) balance the goals of streamlining the examination cycle for individual insured depository institutions and reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining sufficient oversight to ensure the continued safety and soundness of the insured depository institutions and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
“(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to limit the authority of a Federal banking agency to conduct off-site monitoring, targeted reviews, or additional full-scope, on-site examinations of an insured depository institution if the Federal banking agency determines such monitoring, reviews, or examinations are necessary to ensure safety and soundness or compliance with applicable laws.
“(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph:
“(i) CONSUMER COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION.—The term ‘consumer compliance examination’ means an examination to assess compliance with the requirements of Federal consumer financial law (as such term is defined in section 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010).
“(ii) WELL CAPITALIZED.—The term ‘well capitalized’ has the meaning given that term in section 38(b).
“(iii) WELL MANAGED.—With respect to an insured depository institution, the term ‘well managed’ means that, when the institution was most recently examined by the appropriate Federal banking agency, the institution was found to be well managed, and the institution’s composite condition was found to be satisfactory or outstanding.”.
(2) INSURED CREDIT UNIONS.—Section 204 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1784) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(h) Examination relief for certain well managed and well capitalized insured credit unions.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The following shall apply to a well managed and well capitalized insured credit union with $6,000,000,000 or less in consolidated assets:
“(A) ALTERNATING LIMITED-SCOPE EXAMINATIONS.—After an insured credit union receives a full-scope, on-site examination from the National Credit Union Administration, the next examination of the insured credit union by the National Credit Union Administration shall be a limited-scope examination, as determined by the National Credit Union Administration.
“(B) COMBINED EXAMINATIONS.—If an insured credit union is otherwise subject to separate safety and soundness examinations, consumer compliance examinations, and information technology and cybersecurity examinations, the National Credit Union Administration shall, upon request of the insured credit union, combine two or three such examinations, as specified by the insured credit union, and carry them out at the same time.
“(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an insured credit union if the insured credit union is currently subject to a formal enforcement proceeding or order by the National Credit Union Administration.
“(3) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this subsection, the National Credit Union Administration shall issue rules to carry out paragraph (1), including, with respect to an insured credit union described under paragraph (1), to—
“(B) establish procedures for reviewing insured credit unions that—
“(C) balance the goals of streamlining the examination cycle for individual insured credit unions and reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining sufficient oversight to ensure the continued safety and soundness of the insured credit unions and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
“(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection may be construed to limit the authority of the National Credit Union Administration to conduct off-site monitoring, targeted reviews, or additional full-scope, on-site examinations of an insured credit union if the National Credit Union Administration determines such monitoring, reviews, or examinations are necessary to ensure safety and soundness or compliance with applicable laws.
“(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph:
“(A) CONSUMER COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION.—The term ‘consumer compliance examination’ means an examination to assess compliance with the requirements of Federal consumer financial law (as such term is defined in section 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010).
“(B) WELL CAPITALIZED.—The term ‘well capitalized’ has the meaning given that term in section 216(c).
“(C) WELL MANAGED.—With respect to an insured credit union, the term ‘well managed’ means that, when the credit union was most recently examined by the National Credit Union Administration, the credit union was found to be well managed, and the credit union’s composite condition was found to be satisfactory or outstanding.”.
(b) Examination practices.—
(1) INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS.—Section 10(d) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1820(d)), as amended by subsection (a)(1), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(12) EXAMINATION PRACTICES.—With respect to on-site examination of an insured depository institution with less than $6,000,000,000 in total assets, the appropriate Federal banking agency shall—
“(A) ensure the examination is led by, to the maximum extent practicable, an examiner with significant experience as an examiner;
“(B) make every effort, to the maximum extent practicable, to minimize the number of examiners utilized and the amount of time spent at the institution to carry out the examination;
“(13) REPORT.—In its annual report to Congress, each Federal banking agency shall include—
“(B) aggregate data summarizing the agency’s examination practices with respect to insured depository institutions with less than $6,000,000,000 in total assets, including—
(2) INSURED CREDIT UNIONS.—Section 204 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1784), as amended by subsection (a)(2), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(i) Examination practices.—With respect to on-site examination of an insured credit union with less than $6,000,000,000 in total assets, the National Credit Union Administration shall—
“(1) ensure the examination is led by, to the maximum extent practicable, an examiner with significant experience as an examiner;
“(2) make every effort, to the maximum extent practicable, to minimize the number of examiners utilized and the amount of time spent at the credit union to carry out the examination;
“(j) Report.—In its annual report to Congress, the National Credit Union Administration shall include—
“(2) aggregate data summarizing the Administration’s examination practices with respect to insured credit unions with less than $6,000,000,000 in total assets, including—
Section 10(d) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1820(d)) is amended—
(a) Findings.—Congress finds that—
(1) the primary objective of financial regulation and supervision by the Federal banking agencies is to promote safety and soundness of depository institutions;
(2) all federally legal businesses and law-abiding citizens regardless of political ideology should have equal opportunity to obtain financial services and should not face unlawful discrimination in obtaining such services;
(3) financial service providers are private entities entitled to provide services to whichever customers they so choose, provided that those decisions do not violate the law;
(4) financial service providers should strive to ensure that all business decisions are based on factors free from unlawful prejudice or political influence;
(5) the use of reputational risk in supervisory frameworks encourages Federal banking agencies to regulate depository institutions based on the subjective view of negative publicity and provides cover for the agencies to implement their own political agenda unrelated to the safety and soundness of a depository institution;
(6) Federal banking agencies have in fact used reputational risk to limit access of federally legal businesses and law-abiding citizens to financial services in 2018 when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation acknowledged that the agency used reputational risk reviews to limit access to financial services by certain industries, commonly known as “Operation Choke Point”; and
(b) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term “depository institution”—
(A) has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813);
(B) includes a depository institution holding company, as such term is defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and
(C) includes an insured credit union, as such term is defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
(2) FEDERAL BANKING AGENCY.—The term “Federal banking agency”—
(A) has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and
(3) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.—The term “foreign terrorist organization” means a foreign organization that is designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
(4) REPUTATIONAL RISK.—The term “reputational risk” means the potential that negative publicity or negative public opinion regarding a depository institution’s business practices, whether true or not, will cause a decline in confidence in the institution or a decline in the customer base, costly litigation, or revenue reductions or otherwise adversely impact the depository institution. The previous sentence does not apply to negative publicity or negative public opinion regarding an institution’s business practices where such practices involve unlawful transactions in connection with state sponsors of terrorism or foreign terrorist organizations.
(5) STATE SPONSORS OF TERRORISM.—The term “state sponsors of terrorism” means a country, the government of which has been determined by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, for purposes of—
(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)(1)(A)(i));
(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371);
(C) section 40(d) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)); or
(c) Removal of reputational risk as a consideration in the supervision of depository institutions.—Each Federal banking agency shall remove from any guidance, rule, examination manual, or similar document established by the agency any reference to reputational risk, or any term substantially similar, regarding the supervision of depository institutions such that reputational risk, or any term substantially similar, is no longer taken into consideration by the Federal banking agency when examining and supervising a depository institution.
(d) Prohibition.—No Federal banking agency may engage in any activity concerning or related to the regulation, supervision, or examination of the reputational risk, or any term substantially similar, or the management thereof, of a depository institution, including—
(1) establishing any rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or supervisory expectation concerning or related to the reputational risk, or any term substantially similar, or the management thereof, of a depository institution whether binding or not;
(2) conducting any examination, assessment, data collection, or other supervisory exercise concerning or related to reputational risk, or any term substantially similar, or the management thereof, of a depository institution;
(3) issuing any examination finding, supervisory criticism, or other supervisory or examination communication concerning or related to reputational risk, or any term substantially similar, or the management thereof, of a depository institution;
Section 2 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1812) is amended—
(1) by striking “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau” each place such term appears and inserting “Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection”;
(2) by amending subsection (a)(1)(C) to read as follows:
“(C) 3 of whom shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among individuals who are citizens of the United States, 1 of whom shall have State bank supervisory experience, and separately 1 of whom shall have demonstrated primary experience working in or supervising depository institutions having less than $17,000,000,000 in total assets.”; and
(a) In general.—The head of each financial agency shall include a guidance clarity statement as described in subsection (b) on any guidance issued by that financial agency on and after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Guidance clarity statement.—A guidance clarity statement required under subsection (a) shall be displayed prominently on the first page of the document and shall include the following: “This guidance does not have the force and effect of law and therefore does not establish any rights or obligations for any person and is not binding on the agency or the public. If this guidance suggests how regulated entities may comply with applicable statutes or regulations, noncompliance with this guidance does not conclusively establish a violation of applicable law.”.
(c) Definitions.—In this section:
(2) GUIDANCE.—The term “guidance” means a financial agency statement of general applicability, intended to have a future effect on the behavior of regulated parties, that sets forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue, or an interpretation of a statute or regulation, but does not include—
(A) a rule promulgated pursuant to notice and comment under section 553 of title 5, United States Code;
(C) a rule of financial agency organization, procedure, or practice under section 553(b)(A) of title 5, United States Code;
(D) a decision of a financial agency adjudication under section 554 of title 5, United States Code, or any similar statutory provision;
Section 2222 of the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (12 U.S.C. 3311) is amended—
(1) by striking “appropriate Federal banking agency” each place such term appears and inserting “Federal financial institutions regulatory agency”;
(2) by striking “appropriate Federal banking agencies” and inserting “Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies”;
(4) in subsection (b)—
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively (and adjusting the margins accordingly);
(C) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) INTERNAL REVIEW OF CUMULATIVE IMPACT.—Each Federal financial institutions regulatory agency shall conduct an internal review of the cumulative impact of regulations issued by the Federal financial institutions regulatory agency that—
“(A) assesses the effects of such regulations on consumers’ access to financial products and services;
“(B) assesses the effects of such regulations on the availability of financial products and services to financial and nonfinancial firms;
“(C) assesses the impact of such regulations on credit availability and financial market liquidity in United States financial markets;
“(D) assesses the balance of benefits and costs of such regulations with respect to the safety and soundness of the United States financial system and overall economic activity in the United States;
(5) in subsection (c)—
(6) in subsection (e)—
(D) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, by striking “the regulatory burdens associated with such issues by regulation” and inserting “the regulatory burdens associated with the issues identified by public comments received by the Council and the Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies, as well as the regulatory burdens identified by each Federal financial institutions regulatory agency through the internal reviews conducted under subsection (b)(2), by regulation”; and
(7) by adding at the end the following:
“(f) Federal financial institutions regulatory agency defined.—The term ‘Federal financial institutions regulatory agency’ has the meaning given that term in section 1003 of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3302).”.
(a) Annual reporting on interactions between Federal banking supervisory agencies and global financial regulatory or supervisory forums.—
(1) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM.—The seventh undesignated paragraph of section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 247) is amended—
(C) by adding at the end the following:
“(B) INTERACTIONS WITH GLOBAL FINANCIAL REGULATORY OR SUPERVISORY FORUMS.—The report required under subparagraph (A) shall include a description of the Board’s interactions with global financial regulatory or supervisory forums, including—
“(i) a description of the financial regulatory or supervisory standard-setting issues under discussion at the global financial regulatory or supervisory forums during the period covered by the report;
“(ii) a description of the rationale, objectives, and potential effects that rules proposed, rules under consideration, final rules adopted, guidance proposed, guidance under consideration, final guidance adopted, or any other similar actions discussed at the global financial regulatory or supervisory forums could have, including an economic impact analysis on whether the expected costs would be at least offset by the expected benefits related to economic, national security, financial stability, or other national interests;
“(C) GLOBAL FINANCIAL REGULATORY OR SUPERVISORY FORUM DEFINED.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, the term ‘global financial regulatory or supervisory forum’ means any association or union of nations through or by which two or more foreign authorities engage in some aspect of their conduct of international affairs regarding financial supervision and regulation, including—
“(ii) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘global financial regulatory or supervisory forum’ does not include—
“(I) international financial institutions, as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2)); or
(2) OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The second section 333 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (12 U.S.C. 14; relating to an annual report) is amended to read as follows:
“SEC. 333. Report of Comptroller.
“(b) Interactions with global financial regulatory or supervisory forums.—The report required under subsection (a) shall include a description of the Comptroller’s interactions with global financial regulatory or supervisory forums, including—
“(1) a description of the financial regulatory or supervisory standard-setting issues under discussion at the global financial regulatory or supervisory forums during the period covered by the report;
“(2) a description of the rationale, objectives, and potential effects that rules proposed, rules under consideration, final rules adopted, guidance proposed, guidance under consideration, final guidance adopted, or any other similar actions discussed at the global financial regulatory or supervisory forums could have, including an economic impact analysis on whether the expected costs would be at least offset by the expected benefits related to economic, national security, financial stability, or other national interests; and
“(c) Global financial regulatory or supervisory forum defined.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term ‘global financial regulatory or supervisory forum’ means any association or union of nations through or by which two or more foreign authorities engage in some aspect of their conduct of international affairs regarding financial supervision and regulation, including—
“(2) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘global financial regulatory or supervisory forum’ does not include—
“(A) international financial institutions, as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2)); or
(B) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Chapter nine of title VII of the Revised Statutes of the United States is amended—
(i) by redesignating the first section 333 (12 U.S.C. 14a; relating to data standards) as section 332;
(3) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION.—Section 17(a) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1827(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
“(3) INTERACTIONS WITH GLOBAL FINANCIAL REGULATORY OR SUPERVISORY FORUMS.—The report required under paragraph (1) shall include a description of the Corporation’s interactions with global financial regulatory or supervisory forums, including—
“(A) a description of the financial regulatory or supervisory standard-setting issues under discussion at the global financial regulatory or supervisory forums during the period covered by the report;
“(B) a description of the rationale, objectives, and potential effects that rules proposed, rules under consideration, final rules adopted, guidance proposed, guidance under consideration, final guidance adopted, or any other similar actions discussed at the global financial regulatory or supervisory forums could have, including an economic impact analysis on whether the expected costs would be at least offset by the expected benefits related to economic, national security, financial stability, or other national interests;
“(4) GLOBAL FINANCIAL REGULATORY OR SUPERVISORY FORUM DEFINED.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the term ‘global financial regulatory or supervisory forum’ means any association or union of nations through or by which two or more foreign authorities engage in some aspect of their conduct of international affairs regarding financial supervision and regulation, including—
“(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘global financial regulatory or supervisory forum’ does not include—
“(i) international financial institutions, as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2)); or
(b) Biannual congressional testimony on interactions with global financial regulatory or supervisory forums.—Paragraph (12) of section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 247b) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: “and with respect to the conduct of interactions at global financial regulatory or supervisory forums (as defined in paragraph (7)(C))”.
Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) is amended by inserting after paragraph (10) the following:
“(11) REVIEW OF DISCOUNT WINDOW OPERATIONS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Board of Governors shall commence a review of the discount window lending programs of the Federal reserve banks (the ‘discount window’), and shall complete such review not later than 240 days after the date of enactment of this paragraph.
“(B) CONTENTS.—The review required by subparagraph (A) shall include a consideration of—
“(i) the effectiveness of the discount window in providing liquidity to financial institutions, including in times of financial stress;
“(ii) whether the technology infrastructure, including means of communications, are sufficient to support the timely provision of liquidity, including in times of financial stress;
“(iii) the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures implemented with respect to discount window operations;
“(iv) the effectiveness of communications between Federal reserve banks, financial institutions, the Board of Governors, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Secretary of the Treasury regarding discount window operations;
“(v) the effectiveness of the Board of Governors in providing oversight of the discount window and in ensuring consistent access to the discount window across the Federal Reserve System;
“(vi) how the discount window interacts with other providers of liquidity, including the Federal Home Loan Banks, during both normal operations and times of financial distress;
“(vii) the effectiveness of existing discount window operating hours and whether such hours should be expanded, taking into account the interaction between discount window operating hours and the operating hours of payment systems of the Federal reserve banks, such as the Fedwire Funds Service and FedNow Service;
“(viii) the impact of mobile banking and instant communications technology on depositor behavior and liquidity risk posed to financial institutions, including how the discount window can—
“(ix) the effectiveness of the discount window in light of the stigma associated with its usage, ways to reduce such stigma, and ways to improve access, operational efficiency, transparency, and timeliness of the process for financial institutions seeking advances, including on the pricing and other terms of such advances.
“(C) REMEDIATION PLAN.—After the Board of Governors completes the review required by subparagraph (A), the Board of Governors, in consultation with the Federal reserve banks, shall—
“(i) identify deficiencies with the discount window and areas for enhancing discount window effectiveness; and
“(ii) develop a written plan to remediate the identified deficiencies and implement the identified enhancements, which shall include—
“(I) an identification of actions that will be taken to enhance discount window effectiveness and remediate identified deficiencies;
“(D) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON REVIEW AND PLAN.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 365 days after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Board of Governors shall submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing—
“(E) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—
“(i) REPORTS BY THE BOARD.—The Board of Governors shall submit an annual report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing a review of the effectiveness of discount window operations and a progress report on the actions taken to implement the identified enhancements described in subparagraph (C).
“(ii) REPORTS BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall submit an annual report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing a report on the progress of the Board of Governors in implementing the remediation plan required by subparagraph (C).
(a) Amount of reciprocal deposits that are not considered To be funds obtained by or through a deposit broker.—Section 29(i) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831f(i)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The sum of the following amounts of reciprocal deposits of an agent institution shall not be considered to be funds obtained, directly or indirectly, by or through a deposit broker:
“(A) An amount equal to 50 percent of the portion of the total liabilities of the agent institution that is less than or equal to $1,000,000,000.
(b) Definition of Agent Institution.—Section 29(i) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831f(i)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2)(A)—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(3) RESERVATION OF AUTHORITY.—If an insured depository institution ceases to be an agent institution because it no longer satisfies any of the criteria in paragraph (2)(A), the Corporation may, on a case-by-case basis and upon application, provide a waiver to permit the institution to continue to consider some or all of the deposits previously subject to the exception under paragraph (1) as continuing to be subject to the exception under paragraph (1), for a specific or indefinite period of time, if the Corporation determines that failure to grant such a waiver would negatively impact the safety and soundness of the insured depository institution.”.
(c) Reciprocal deposits study.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in consultation with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, shall carry out a study on reciprocal deposits.
(2) CONTENTS.—The study required under paragraph (1) shall include—
(3) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and determinations made in carrying out the study required under paragraph (1).
(a) In general.—Section 29 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(j) Limited exception for custodial deposits.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Custodial deposits of an eligible institution shall not be considered to be funds obtained, directly or indirectly, by or through a deposit broker to the extent that the total amount of such custodial deposits does not exceed an amount equal to 20 percent of the total liabilities of the eligible institution.
“(2) RESERVATION OF AUTHORITY.—If an insured depository institution ceases to be an eligible institution because it no longer satisfies any of the criteria in paragraph (3)(B), the Corporation may, on a case-by-case basis and upon application, provide a waiver to permit the institution to continue to be treated as an eligible institution for purposes of paragraph (1), for a specific or indefinite period of time, if the Corporation determines that failure to grant such a waiver would negatively impact the safety and soundness of the insured depository institution.
“(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
“(A) CUSTODIAL DEPOSIT.—The term ‘custodial deposit’ means a deposit that is not deposited at an insured depository institution in return for fees paid by the insured depository institution pursuant to an agreement with a third party and that would otherwise be considered to be obtained, directly or indirectly, by or through a deposit broker, if the deposit is deposited at 1 or more insured depository institutions, for the purpose of providing or maintaining deposit insurance for the benefit of a third party, by or through any of the following, each acting in a formal custodial or fiduciary capacity for the benefit of a third party:
“(B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligible institution’ means an insured depository institution that accepts custodial deposits, if the insured depository institution has less than $10,000,000,000 in total assets as reported on the consolidated report of condition and income as reported quarterly to the appropriate Federal banking agency and—
“(i) (I) when most recently examined under section 10(d) was assigned a composite rating of 1, 2, or 3 under the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System (or an equivalent rating under a comparable rating system); and
“(C) PLAN.—The term ‘plan’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002).
“(D) PLAN ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘plan administrator’ has the meaning given the term ‘administrator’ in section 3 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002).
(b) Interest rate restriction.—Section 29 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831f), as amended by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(k) Restriction on interest rate paid on certain custodial deposits.—
“(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection—
“(2) PROHIBITION.—A covered insured depository institution may not pay a rate of interest on custodial deposits that are accepted while not well capitalized that, at the time the funds or custodial deposits are accepted, significantly exceeds the limit set forth in paragraph (3).
“(3) LIMIT ON INTEREST RATES.—The limit on the rate of interest referred to in paragraph (2) shall be not greater than—
(a) In general.—Section 18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1828(c)), as amended by section 604(c), is further amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(16) FOR MERGER TRANSACTIONS RESULTING IN INSTITUTIONS WITH LESS THAN $10,000,000,000 IN ASSETS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding paragraph (5), if a proposed merger transaction would result in an institution with less than $10,000,000,000 in assets, then the responsible agency shall not consider whether such merger transaction would—
“(B) THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENT.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—At the end of each year for which the nominal gross domestic product of the United States increases (a ‘covered year’), the Corporation shall adjust the dollar figures described in subparagraph (A) and paragraph (4)(C)(iii) by a percentage equal to the percentage increase (if any) between—
(b) For bank holding companies.—Section 3(c) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(8) FOR PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS RESULTING IN COMPANIES WITH LESS THAN $10,000,000,000 IN ASSETS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if a proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation under this section would result in a company with less than $10,000,000,000 in assets, then the Board shall not consider whether such acquisition, merger, or consolidation would—
“(B) THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENT.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—At the end of each year for which the nominal gross domestic product of the United States increases (a ‘covered year’), the Board shall adjust the dollar figure described in subparagraph (A) by a percentage equal to the percentage increase (if any) between—
(c) For savings and loan holding companies.—Section 10(e) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1467a(e)), as amended by section 103(b), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(10) FOR PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS RESULTING IN COMPANIES WITH LESS THAN $10,000,000,000 IN ASSETS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2), if a proposed transaction under this section would result in a company with less than $10,000,000,000 in assets, then the Board shall not consider whether the transaction would—
“(B) THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENT.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—At the end of each year for which the nominal gross domestic product of the United States increases (a ‘covered year’), the Board shall adjust the dollar figure described in subparagraph (A) by a percentage equal to the percentage increase (if any) between—
(a) Study.—The Comptroller General of the United States shall carry out a study on the use of commitments, conditions, and other aspects of merger review procedures by Federal depository institution regulatory agencies in connection with insured depository institution merger applications. The study shall—
(2) review the extent to which the use of commitments and conditions has aligned with statutory requirements, including a review of whether the use of commitments and conditions has been influenced by extrastatutory issues or considerations;
(b) Report.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and determinations made in carrying out the study required under subsection (a).
(c) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) APPLICATION.—The term “application” means an application, notice, or other similar request for permission submitted to a Federal depository institution regulatory agency.
(2) FEDERAL DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION REGULATORY AGENCY.—The term “Federal depository institution regulatory agency” means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration Board.
(3) INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term “insured depository institution”—
(A) has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and
(B) means an insured credit union, as defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
(4) INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION MERGER APPLICATION.—The term “insured depository institution merger application” means an application with respect to the acquisition of an insured depository institution, its equity interests, its assets, or its deposits under—
(A) section 10(e) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1467a(e));
(B) section 205(b) of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1785(b));
(C) section 7(j) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j));
(D) section 18(c)(2) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1828(c)(2));
(E) section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1842); and
(F) section 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843).
(a) Review.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Inspector General of each Federal depository institution regulatory agency shall review the Federal depository institution regulatory agency’s merger review procedures, including record of timeliness and efficiency in reviewing and acting upon insured depository institution merger applications. The review shall—
(1) include an evaluation of relevant quantifiable metrics, including mean and median application processing times;
(2) identify sources of delay that may hinder the timely consummation of proposals that meet the relevant statutory factors;
(3) consider the benefits and risks of utilizing different merger review approaches and procedures in compliance with the law;
(b) Report.—Each Inspector General described under subsection (a) shall, at the conclusion of each review required under subsection (a), issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and determinations made in carrying out the review, and publish such report online.
(c) Agency response.—In response to each report issued under subsection (a), the appropriate Federal depository institution regulatory agency shall submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and publish online a written response, including a plan to implement the recommendations in the report, to the extent such implementation is appropriate.
(d) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) APPLICATION.—The term “application” means an application, notice, or other similar request for permission submitted to a Federal depository institution regulatory agency.
(2) FEDERAL DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION REGULATORY AGENCY.—The term “Federal depository institution regulatory agency” means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration Board.
(3) INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term “insured depository institution”—
(A) has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and
(B) means an insured credit union, as defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
(4) INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION MERGER APPLICATION.—The term “insured depository institution merger application” means an application with respect to the acquisition of an insured depository institution, its equity interests, its assets, or its deposits under—
(A) section 10(e) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1467a(e));
(B) section 205(b) of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1785(b));
(C) section 7(j) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j));
(D) section 18(c)(2) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1828(c)(2));
(E) section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1842); and
(F) section 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843).
(a) Bank holding companies.—Section 3(b)(1) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1842(b)(1)) is amended—
(3) by striking “In the event of the failure of the Board to act on any application for approval under this section within the ninety-one-day period which begins on the date of submission to the Board of the complete record on that application, the application shall be deemed to have been granted.”; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
“(B) COMPLETE RECORD ON AN APPLICATION.—
“(i) NOTICE TO APPLICANT.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Board receives an application for approval under this section, the Board shall transmit to the applicant a letter that either—
“(ii) EXTENSION OF NOTICE.—Notwithstanding clause (i), the Board may, if an application is complex, extend the 30-day period described under clause (i) for an additional 30 days.
“(iii) RECEIPT OF RESPONSE; DEEMING OF COMPLETE RECORD.—Upon receipt of a response from an applicant to a notice requesting additional information described under clause (i)(II), the record on the application shall be deemed complete unless the Board—
“(iv) TREATMENT OF THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION.—In determining whether the record on an application is complete, the Board may take into account only information provided by the applicant, and may not base the determination of completeness on any information (including reports, views, or recommendations) provided by third parties.
“(C) DEADLINE FOR DETERMINATION.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), the Board shall grant or deny an application submitted under this section not later than 120 days after the date on which the application was initially submitted to the Board, regardless of whether the record on such initial application was complete.
(b) Savings and loan holding companies.—Section 10(e) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1467a(e)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking “, and shall render a decision within 90 days after submission to the Board of the complete record on the application”;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
“(7) COMPLETE RECORD ON AN APPLICATION.—
“(A) NOTICE TO APPLICANT.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Board receives an application for approval under this subsection, the Board shall transmit to the applicant a letter that either—
“(B) EXTENSION OF NOTICE.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the Board may, if an application is complex, extend the 30-day period described under subparagraph (A) for an additional 30 days.
“(C) RECEIPT OF RESPONSE; DEEMING OF COMPLETE RECORD.—Upon receipt of a response from an applicant to a notice requesting additional information described under subparagraph (A)(ii), the record on the application shall be deemed complete unless the Board—
“(D) TREATMENT OF THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION.—In determining whether the record on an application is complete, the Board may take into account only information provided by the applicant, and may not base the determination of completeness on any information (including reports, views, or recommendations) provided by third parties.
“(8) DEADLINE FOR DETERMINATION.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, the Board shall grant or deny an application submitted under this subsection not later than 120 days after the date on which the application was initially submitted to the Board, regardless of whether the record on such initial application was complete.
(c) Insured depository institutions.—Section 18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1828(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(14) COMPLETE RECORD ON AN APPLICATION.—
“(A) NOTICE TO APPLICANT.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which the responsible agency receives a merger application for approval under this subsection, the responsible agency shall transmit to the applicant a letter that either—
“(B) EXTENSION OF NOTICE.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the responsible agency may, if an application is unusually complex, extend the 30-day period described under subparagraph (A) for an additional 30 days.
“(C) RECEIPT OF RESPONSE; DEEMING OF COMPLETE RECORD.—Upon receipt of a response from an applicant to a notice requesting additional information described under subparagraph (A)(ii), the record on the application shall be deemed complete unless the responsible agency—
“(D) TREATMENT OF THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION.—In determining whether the record on an application is complete, the responsible agency may take into account only information provided by the applicant, and may not base the determination of completeness on any information (including reports, views, or recommendations) provided by third parties.
“(15) DEADLINE FOR DETERMINATION.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, the responsible agency shall grant or deny a merger application submitted under this subsection not later than 120 days after the date on which the application was initially submitted to the responsible agency, regardless of whether the record on such initial application was complete.
(a) In general.—Section 13(c)(4) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1823(c)(4)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting “except as provided in subparagraph (I),” before “the total amount”;
(2) in subparagraph (E)(i), by inserting “and except as provided in subparagraph (I),” after “appropriate,”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(I) LEAST COST RESOLUTION EXCEPTION.—
“(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an exercise of authority by the Corporation described in subparagraph (A), the Corporation may, at the discretion of the Corporation, select an alternative method of exercising such authority that is not the least costly to the Deposit Insurance Fund, if—
“(I) the Corporation determines that the selected alternative complies with the requirements of clause (iii); and
“(II) the Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, after consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, determine that the potential additional risks to the Deposit Insurance Fund of the selected alternative are outweighed by the reasonably expected benefits of limiting further concentration of the United States banking system in global systemically important banking organizations.
“(ii) MAXIMUM COST TO THE DEPOSIT INSURANCE FUND.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subparagraph, the Corporation, by rule, shall establish criteria for determining on a case-by-case basis the maximum allowable cost against the net worth of the Deposit Insurance Fund that may be utilized to account for any determination under clause (i).
“(iii) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The requirements for the selected alternative described in clause (i) are as follows:
“(I) The selected alternative is least costly to the Deposit Insurance Fund of all alternatives that do not involve a transaction with a global systemically important banking organization and that do not exceed the cost of liquidating the insured depository institution.
“(II) The difference between the cost of the selected alternative and the cost of a covered alternative is less than or equal to the maximum cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund specified pursuant to the rule adopted under clause (ii).
“(III) In the case of a selected alternative that involves another person purchasing assets of the insured depository institution or assuming deposit liabilities of the insured depository institution, such person agrees to pay an assessment to the Corporation comprised of payments—
“(aa) made over a period to be determined by the Corporation, but which may not be less than 5 years; and
“(bb) in an amount that takes into account, on a case-by-case basis, criteria the Corporation, by rule, shall establish, including a realistic discount rate, the aggregate amount equal to the difference calculated in subclause (II), and any bid inconsistent with the purposes of this Act, with such rule to be established by the Corporation not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subparagraph.
“(iv) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 days after selecting an alternative described in clause (i), the Corporation shall issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing an analysis of the economic difference between the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund of the selected alternative and the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund of the least costly alternative that would have been selected absent the application of this subparagraph.
“(v) COST DETERMINATIONS.—All cost determinations required under this subparagraph shall be made in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C).
“(vi) DEFINITIONS.—In this subparagraph:
“(I) COVERED ALTERNATIVE.—The term ‘covered alternative’ means a method of exercising authority described in subparagraph (A) that is the least costly to the Deposit Insurance Fund of all such methods that involve a sale of all or substantially all assets of the insured depository institution to, and assumption of all or substantially all deposit liabilities of the insured depository institution by, a global systemically important banking organization.
“(II) GLOBAL SYSTEMICALLY IMPORTANT BANKING ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘global systemically important banking organization’ means a global systemically important BHC (as such term is defined in section 217.402 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto) and any affiliate thereof.”.
(b) Rule of construction.—Section 13(c)(4)(H) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1823(c)(4)(H)) does not apply to the amendments made by subsection (a).
(a) Study.—The Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Board of the Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall, jointly, carry out a study of—
(1) the use by the Comptroller of the Currency of shelf charters, including all conditional or preliminary shelf charter approvals granted between January 1, 2008, and the date of enactment of this Act;
(2) the use by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation of the modified bidder qualification process;
(3) the application of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) and section 10 of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1467a) to shelf charter proposals;
(4) whether shelf charters and modified bidder qualification processes were considered or used in connection with the receivership of any insured depository institution for which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was appointed receiver in 2023;
(5) with respect to such receiverships, the extent to which greater use of shelf charters and modified bidder qualification processes could have—
(A) expanded the pool of participants in the acquisition of the assets or liabilities of such failed insured depository institutions;
(D) strengthened financial stability and reduced the need for any emergency determination by the Secretary of the Treasury under section 13(c)(4)(G) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1823(c)(4)(G)) with respect to any such receivership;
(6) the impact of the use of shelf charters and modified bidder qualification processes since January 1, 2008, including on financial stability, the safety and soundness of affected insured depository institutions, and the availability of financial products and services provided to consumers by such institutions; and
(b) Report.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Board of the Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall, jointly, submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing—
(c) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term “insured depository institution” has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).
(2) MODIFIED BIDDER QUALIFICATION PROCESS.—The term “modified bidder qualification process” has the meaning given such term in the press release of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation titled “FDIC Expands Bidder List for Troubled Institutions Plan Allows Those Without a Bank Charter to Participate in the Process” published November 26, 2008.
(a) Concentration limit exceptions only available to avoid serious adverse economic or financial effects.—
(1) CONCENTRATION LIMITS WITH RESPECT TO DEPOSITS.—
(A) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT.—The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) is amended—
(i) in section 18(c)(13)—
(I) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as follows:
“(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an interstate merger transaction if—
“(i) such interstate merger transaction involves 1 or more insured depository institutions in default or in danger of default and the responsible agency determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed interstate merger transaction is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid from a company that is not subject to the prohibition in subparagraph (A); or
“(ii) the Corporation provides assistance under section 13 to facilitate such interstate merger transaction and the responsible agency determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed interstate merger transaction is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid from a company that is not subject to the prohibition in subparagraph (A).”; and
(II) in subparagraph (C)—
(cc) by adding at the end the following:
“(iii) the term ‘qualified bid’ means an application, proposed application, or bid from a company where—
“(iv) the term ‘well capitalized’—
“(I) with respect to an insured depository institution, has the meaning given such term in section 38(b) (12 U.S.C. 1831o(b));
“(II) with respect to a bank holding company, has the meaning given such term in section 2(o)(1)(B) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841(o)(1)(B));
“(III) with respect to a savings and loan holding company, has the meaning given such term in section 238.2 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations; and
“(IV) with respect to a company that is not an insured depository institution, bank holding company, or savings and loan holding company, means maintaining equity capital that the Corporation determines is commensurate with the capital maintained by an insured depository institution that is well capitalized; and
“(v) the term ‘well managed’ has the meaning given such term in section 2(o)(9) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841(o)(9)).”; and
(ii) in section 44, by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:
“(e) Exception for Banks in Default or in Danger of Default.—
“(1) GENERAL EXCEPTION.—The responsible agency may, without regard to paragraph (1), (3), (4), or (5) of subsection (b) or paragraph (2), (4), or (5) of subsection (a), approve an application under subsection (a)(1) for approval of a merger transaction if—
“(2) CONCENTRATION LIMIT EXCEPTION.—The responsible agency may, without regard to subsection (b)(2), approve an application under subsection (a)(1) for approval of a merger transaction if—
“(A) the merger transaction involves 1 or more banks in default or in danger of default and the responsible agency determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed interstate merger transaction is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid from another institution that is not subject to the prohibition in subsection (b)(2); or
“(B) the Corporation provides assistance under section 13(c) to facilitate such merger transaction and the responsible agency determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed interstate merger transaction is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid from another institution that is not subject to the prohibition in subsection (b)(2).
(B) BANK HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1956.—The Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) is amended—
(i) in section 3(d), by amending paragraph (5) to read as follows:
“(5) EXCEPTION FOR BANKS IN DEFAULT OR IN DANGER OF DEFAULT.—
“(A) GENERAL EXCEPTION.—The Board may, without regard to subparagraph (B) or (D) of paragraph (1) or paragraph (3), approve an application pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) if—
“(B) CONCENTRATION LIMIT EXCEPTION.—The Board may, without regard to paragraph (2), approve an application pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) if—
“(i) the application is for the acquisition of 1 or more banks in default or in danger of default and the Board determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed acquisition is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid from another institution that is not subject to the prohibition in paragraph (2); or
“(ii) the application is for an acquisition with respect to which assistance is provided under section 13(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Board determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed acquisition is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid from another institution that is not subject to the prohibition in paragraph (2).
(ii) in section 4(i)(8), by amending subparagraph (B) to read as follows:
“(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an acquisition if—
“(i) such acquisition involves an insured depository institution in default or in danger of default and the Board determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed acquisition is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid (as defined in section 18(c)(13)(C) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act) from another institution that is not subject to the prohibition in paragraph (2); or
“(ii) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation provides assistance under section 13 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to facilitate such acquisition and the Board determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed acquisition is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid (as defined in section 18(c)(13)(C) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act) from another institution that is not subject to the prohibition in paragraph (2).”.
(2) CONCENTRATION LIMIT WITH RESPECT TO CONSOLIDATED LIABILITIES.—Section 14(c) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1852(c)) is amended—
(C) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) LIMITATION.—The Board may provide written consent for an acquisition described in paragraph (1)(A) or in paragraph (1)(B) only if the Board determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that consummation of the proposed acquisition is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability, and the Corporation has not received any qualified bid (as defined in section 18(c)(13)(C) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act) from another institution that is not subject to the prohibition in subsection (b).”.
(b) Congressional notification and justification for waivers.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation waives a concentration limit under section 18(c)(13)(B) or section 44(e) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or under section 3(d)(5), section 4(i)(8)(B), or section 14(c)(2) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, in connection with the acquisition of a bank or insured depository institution in default or in danger of default, or in connection with an acquisition with respect to which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation provides assistance under section 13 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, the waiving agency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, jointly, shall, not later than 30 days after such waiver, submit a written report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in the Senate containing—
(A) a justification for the waiver, including an analysis of why it was necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or significant adverse effects on financial stability;
(2) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—The waiving agency submitting a report under paragraph (1) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall make the report publicly available on their respective websites, subject to redactions for confidential supervisory information and any other information described under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.
(c) Limitation on considering bad faith bids in least cost determination.—Section 13(c)(4) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1823(c)(4)), as amended by section 701(a)(3), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(J) LIMITATION ON CONSIDERING BAD FAITH BIDS.—In making a determination under this paragraph of whether an exercise of authority is the least costly to the Deposit Insurance Fund, the Corporation may not consider any application, proposed application, or bid from a company, if such application, proposed application, or bid would result in violation of—
(a) GAO review.—Section 13(c)(4)(G)(iv) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1823(c)(4)(G)(iv)) is amended to read as follows:
“(iv) GAO REVIEW.—
“(I) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the United States shall, not later than 60 days after a determination is made under clause (i), and again 180 days thereafter, review and report to the Congress on the determination under clause (i), including—
“(cc) the likely effect of the determination and such action on the incentives and conduct of insured depository institutions and uninsured depositors;
“(dd) any mismanagement by the executives and board of the insured depository institution that contributed to the failure of the insured depository institution;
“(ff) any supervisory or regulatory shortcomings with respect to the appropriate Federal banking agency of the insured depository institution;
“(gg) any actions taken by the Federal banking regulators, Financial Stability Oversight Council, Department of the Treasury, and other relevant financial regulators in relation to the failure of the insured depository institution; and
“(hh) any additional relevant entities or activities that may have contributed to the failure of the insured depository institution, including with respect to auditing, accounting, credit rating agencies, investment bank underwriters, and emergency liquidity options such as loans from the Federal reserve banks or advances through the Federal Home Loan Bank system.
(b) Appropriate federal banking agency report.—Section 13(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1823(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(12) APPROPRIATE FEDERAL BANKING AGENCY REPORT.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate Federal banking agency of an insured depository institution about which a determination is made under paragraph (4)(G)(i) shall, not later than 90 days after the date of such determination, and again 210 days thereafter, submit a report to the Congress that discloses the following:
“(i) Subject to such redactions as the appropriate Federal banking agency determines appropriate to protect personally identifiable information about customers and other financial institutions (as such term is defined under section 11(e)(9)(D)), all—
“(I) reports of examination and inspection that relate to the failed insured depository institution in the previous 3-year period;
“(ii) An examination of any mismanagement by the executives and board of the insured depository institution that contributed to the failure of the insured depository institution.
“(iii) Any supervisory or regulatory shortcomings by such appropriate Federal banking agency with respect to the insured depository institution.
“(B) PROTECTION OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—
“(i) EFFECT ON PRIVILEGE.—The provision of any information by a Federal banking agency under this paragraph may not be construed as—
“(ii) TRANSPARENCY.—
“(I) IN GENERAL.—A Federal banking agency shall publish materials contained in a report required under subparagraph (A) to the fullest extent possible to promote transparency.
“(II) CONSULTATION ON OMITTING MATERIALS.—If a Federal banking agency determines particular materials described under subclause (I) should not be published, the Federal banking agency shall consult with the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
“(III) OMITTING MATERIALS.—If, after the consultation required under subclause (II), the Federal banking agency determines there is a substantial public interest in not publishing such materials, the Federal banking agency shall provide those materials to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with a written explanation describing the reasons for not publishing those materials.
“(C) REPORT EXTENSION.—A Federal banking agency may extend a deadline described under subparagraph (A) for an additional 60 days, if the Federal banking agency—
Section 4(k)(7)(A) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843(k)(7)(A)) is amended by inserting “Under such regulations, the period of time generally permitted for holding merchant banking investments shall not be less than 15 years. For any merchant banking investment held on the date of enactment of the Merchant Banking Modernization Act, the holding period of time permitted shall not be less than 15 years from the initial date of the investment.” after the period at the end.
(a) Study on bank-Fintech partnerships.—
(1) STUDY.—The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall carry out a study of—
(A) the impact of partnerships between banking organizations, on the one hand, and financial technology companies, on the other hand, on the banking sector, competition, innovation, consumer protection, and the availability of financial products and services, including the extent to which these partnerships support the formation of new banking organizations, reduce time to market for products and services, lower compliance burdens, boost customer acquisition, improve technological capabilities, and provide access to more diverse funding sources; and
(B) what changes to Federal laws governing banking organizations, or to rules or guidance adopted by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, may help promote effective partnerships between banking organizations, on the one hand, and financial technology companies, on the other hand.
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and determinations made in carrying out the study required under paragraph (1).
(3) BANKING ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term “banking organization” means a depository institution holding company or an insured depository institution, as such terms are defined, respectively, under section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).
(b) Study on credit union-Fintech partnerships.—
(1) STUDY.—The National Credit Union Administration shall carry out a study of—
(A) the impact of partnerships between credit unions, on the one hand, and financial technology companies, on the other hand, on the credit union sector, competition, innovation, consumer protection, and the availability of financial products and services, including the extent to which these partnerships support the formation of new credit unions, reduce time to market for products and services, lower compliance burdens, boost customer acquisition, improve technological capabilities, and provide access to more diverse funding sources; and
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Credit Union Administration shall issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and determinations made in carrying out the study required under paragraph (1).
Union Calendar No. 535 | |||||
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[Report No. 119–617] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To make improvements to the Federal banking laws, and for other purposes. | |||||
April 20, 2026 | |||||
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed |