Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee yesterday released a relatively narrow regulatory relief bill for financial institutions.
The Democratic proposal would allow mortgages held in portfolio to receive the Qualified Mortgage safe harbor (but only for banks with less than $10 billion in assets), reduce the burden of unnecessary privacy notice paperwork and extend the exam cycle for more institutions. The bill would also give the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau authority to enforce the Servicemember Civil Relief Act and permanently extend provisions relating to tenants in a property being rented when it is foreclosed upon.
While ABA is appreciative of all efforts to reduce regulatory burden on banks, the Democratic proposal is limited in its size and scope and would exclude numerous regulatory relief provisions that have already passed the House with bipartisan majorities during the past two Congresses.
