By a bipartisan vote of 300 to 104, the House today passed H.R. 4790, a bill introduced by Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) that would simplify the Volcker Rule. The bill designates the Federal Reserve as the rulemaking agency over all affiliates in a banking group and delegates examination and enforcement authority to a bank’s primary federal banking agency. It also provides a clear exemption from the Volcker Rule for banks that have $10 billion or less in consolidated assets.
While noting that “a more extensive review of the Volcker Rule is warranted,” ABA offered support for the bill before the vote, noting that “the legislation provides proper safeguards while streamlining the process and giving the Federal Reserve authority to make exemption determinations under the Volcker Rule for banking entities.” The association added that “this much needed reform is long overdue.”
