Senate panel to weigh regulatory relief Thursday
today.reuters.com
By Kristin Roberts
WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - A Senate panel on Thursday will debate a long-anticipated bill aimed at easing oversight of the financial services industry but which excludes many provisions contained in a similar bill approved by the House.
The Senate Banking Committee on Monday said it would hold its mark-up session, where panel members consider various provisions of proposed legislation, on May 4. Any planned amendments to the bill must be submitted by Tuesday afternoon.
While thinner than legislation advanced by the House of Representatives in March, the Senate bill from Republican Michael Crapo of Idaho includes a host of provisions affecting banks, credit unions and savings associations. Many are supported by both the industry and its federal regulators.
The bill would, for example, increase to $500 million from $250 million the asset threshold that qualifies a small bank to be examined every 18 months rather than every year. That would still be below the threshold some regulatory agencies sought.
The Senate bill also would clarify state regulators' authorities.
It would underscore that state regulators have authority for the institutions chartered in their states. Those regulators, known as home state regulators, have primary responsibility for assuring the safety and soundness of financial institutions in their states, under the bill.
Host state regulators -- those in states where banks have a presence but are not based -- must enter cooperative agreements with the bank's home state in order to examine the institution for compliance with host-state laws, under the bill.
Crapo's bill, however, does not include other provisions hoped for by industry, such as a measure that would reduce the number of cash transaction reports that banks must file under the Bank Secrecy Act.
Instead, the Senate legislation would require the U.S. Comptroller General, head of the Government Accountability Office, to study the volume of those cash transaction reports and make recommendations for changes to the filing system.
Another study on the cost and overall regulation of financial services would also be required under the bill.
Industry lobbyists said they expected few amendments would be proposed on Thursday. If advanced out of committee, the legislation would have to be cleared on the Senate floor and then House and Senate negotiators would work out the differences between their bills. |
