Sens. Perdue, McCaskill Introduce Bill Reforming SIFI Designation

Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Ga.) today introduced an American Bankers Association-backed bill that would give the Federal Reserve flexibility in designating banks as systemically important. Banks with more than $50 billion in assets would be exempt from several Dodd-Frank provisions that apply to SIFIs, including reporting requirements, limits on lending and limits on mergers and acquisitions, provided the Fed decides the institution is not systemically important.

ABA EVP James Ballentine applauded the bill. “This bipartisan legislation recognizes that arbitrary size thresholds are needlessly burdensome, increase costs and reduce products and services available to bank customers,” he said. “The most effective and value-added supervision system is one that is tailored and takes into account a broader view of bank characteristics, including asset size, business model and risk profile. This commonsense legislation takes an important step toward reforming our financial regulatory system, and we look forward to working with lawmakers to move it forward.”