Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) yesterday introduced a bill that would provide relief from the Dodd-Frank Act stress tests, reducing the mandated frequency of testing for all institutions and removing many from the stress test process altogether.
The Main Street Regulatory Fairness Act raises the asset threshold for stress testing from $10 billion to $50 billion and for the rest removes the requirement for semiannual stress tests, instead calling for regulators to conduct them periodically. The American Bankers Association has long sought reform of the stress test process, noting that it imposes excessively heavy burdens on institutions for which stress tests are superfluous or not well suited, and continues to seek legislative and regulatory opportunities to address arbitrary asset thresholds and unnecessary burdens on banks.
