The House Financial Services Committee this week advanced nine bills supported by the American Bankers Association, covering issues ranging from bank merger applications to regulatory tailoring.
The committee held a legislative markup on May 20-21, during which it considered 25 bills. In comments, ABA urged lawmakers to support nine bills, all of which were favorably reported out of committee. 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. The legislation received bipartisan support.
- 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. The legislation received bipartisan support.
- 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. The legislation received bipartisan support.
- 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. The legislation received bipartisan support.
- 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. The legislation received bipartisan support.