The American Bankers Association today expressed support for several bills under consideration by the House Financial Services Committee, including legislation on regulatory tailoring, reputational risk and bank merger applications.
The committee met for the start of two days of markup hearings, during which it will take up more than two dozen bills. In a letter to committee members, ABA listed the bills it supports. They are:
- H.R. 940, the Fair Audits and Inspections for Regulators’ (FAIR) Exams Act. The bill would provide greater transparency in bank exams and establish a new, independent appeals process.
- H.R. 2702, the Financial Integrity and Regulation Management (FIRM) Act. The bill would prohibit the federal financial regulators from implementing subjective oversight akin to “Operation Chokepoint” in the future by removing reputational risk as a component of federal supervision when determining the safety and soundness of regulated depository institutions.
- H.R. 3230, the Financial Institution Regulatory Tailoring Enhancement Act. The bill would raise the asset threshold from $10 billion to $50 billion for the applicability of certain regulations, including Consumer Financial Protection Bureau supervision, the Volcker Rule, qualified mortgage standards, and certain leverage and risk-based capital requirements.
- H.R. 1900, the Bank Failure Prevention Act of 2025. The bill would require the Federal Reserve to decide on merger applications within 90 days and is intended to restore transparency and timeliness in the bank acquisition application process.
- H.R. 3379, the Halting Uncertain Methods and Practices in Supervision (HUMPS) Act of 2025. The bill would require the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council to develop formal recommendations to revise the CAMELS rating system and in turn require the regulatory agencies to implement them through joint rulemaking.
- H.R. 3380, the Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk (TAILOR) Act of 2025. The bill would require the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, FDIC, Fed, National Credit Union Administration and CFPB to consider an institution’s risk profile and business model when issuing new regulations or taking supervisory actions.
- H.R. 1013, the Retirement Fairness for Charities and Educational Institutions Act. The bill would level the playing field among retirement plans by expressly authorizing 403(b) plans to invest in bank collective investment trusts.
- H.R. 2441, the Improving Disclosures for Investors Act of 2025. The bill would require the SEC to promulgate rules to allow for the use of electronic delivery options to meet regulatory communication requirements to investors.
- H.R. 1469, the Senior Security Act. The bill would create a task force at the SEC dedicated to combating the exploitation of senior investors.