Podcast: Breaking Down the Regulatory Reform Bill

On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, three top American Bankers Association leaders break down the Senate passage of S. 2155, the bipartisan regulatory reform bill passed last night, and explore both what’s in the bill and the path ahead for the legislation.

ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols salutes Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) for their work on crafting the legislation. “We think it’s thoughtful public policy,” he says. “The fact that it’s bipartisan is really exciting.” The bill passed with a 67-31 vote.

ABA EVP Wayne Abernathy highlights three key provisions of the many that are included in the bill: the simplification of Basel III capital calculations for banks with less than $10 billion in assets and the exemption from the Volcker Rule for banks with under $10 billion in assets, as well as exemption of certain institutions from the expanded set of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data points. Abernathy also rebutted misleading claims made by S. 2155 opponents about what the bill’s HMDA provision does.

The bill was a culmination of years of work by ABA, state bankers associations and grassroots bankers, Nichols and ABA EVP James Ballentine notes, emphasizing that the personal stories of regulatory effects on bank customers were critical in building the bipartisan coalition in the Senate. The next step for this bill is the House, which “will determine the process from this point forward,” Ballentine says. They add that numerous provisions in the Senate bill are individual bills already passed by the House Financial Services Committee and championed by its members, building “House DNA” into the legislation already. View ABA’s highlights of S. 2155.

If you can’t see the audio player above, click here to listen to this week’s episode.