Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Small Financial Institutions Regulatory Relief Act of 2014”.
Small Financial Institutions Regulatory Relief Act of 2014
A BILL
To amend certain banking statutes to exempt community banks from certain regulatory requirements, to include a community bank representative in the membership of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, to create a process for a county to be designated as a rural area, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Certain loans included as qualified mortgages
Section 129C(b)(2) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1639c(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(F) Loans held on portfolio—The term qualified mortgage includes a residential mortgage loan made by a creditor having less than $10,000,000,000 in total assets, so long as such loan is originated and retained in portfolio of the creditor for the duration of the loan term.”
Sec. 3 Exemption from escrow requirements for loans held by small creditors
Section 129D(c) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1639d(c)) is amended—
by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) and moving such subparagraphs 2 ems to the right;
striking “The Board” and inserting the following:
“(1) In general—The Bureau”
by adding at the end the following:
“(2) Treatment of loans held by smaller creditors—The Bureau shall, by regulation, exempt from the requirements of subsection (a) any loan secured by a first lien on a consumer’s principle dwelling, if such loan is held by a creditor with assets of less than $10,000,000,000.”
Sec. 4 Increase in small servicer exemption
Section 6 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(n) Small servicer exemption—The Bureau shall, by regulation, provide exemptions to, or adjustments for, the provisions of this section for servicers that service 10,000 or fewer mortgage loans, in order to reduce regulatory burdens while appropriately balancing consumer protections.”
Sec. 5 Exception to annual privacy notice requirement under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
Section 503 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6803) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(f) Exception to annual notice requirement—A financial institution that—
“(1) provides nonpublic personal information only in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b)(2) or (e) of section 502 or regulations prescribed under section 504(b), and
“(2) has not changed its policies and practices with regard to disclosing nonpublic personal information from the policies and practices that were disclosed in the most recent disclosure sent to consumers in accordance with this subsection,”
Sec. 6 Changes required to small bank holding company policy statement on assessment of financial and managerial factors
Small bank holding company policy statement on assessment of financial and managerial factors—
In general— Before the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall publish in the Federal Register proposed revisions to the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors (12 C.F.R. part 225—appendix C) that provide that the policy shall apply to a bank holding company which has pro forma consolidated assets of less than $5,000,000,000 and that—
is not engaged in any nonbanking activities involving significant leverage; and
does not have a significant amount of outstanding debt that is held by the general public.
Adjustment of amount— The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall annually adjust the dollar amount referred to in paragraph (1) in the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors by an amount equal to the percentage increase, for the most recent year, in total assets held by all insured depository institutions, as determined by the Board.
Increase in debt-to-Equity ratio of small bank holding company— Before the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall publish in the Federal Register proposed revisions to the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors (12 C.F.R. part 225—appendix C) such that the debt-to-equity ratio allowable for a small bank holding company in order to remain eligible to pay a corporate dividend and to remain eligible for expedited processing procedures under Regulation Y of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System would increase from 1:1 to 3:1.
Sec. 7 Membership of Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Inclusion of a person with community bank experience— The first undesignated paragraph of section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 241) is amended by inserting after the second sentence the following: “The Board shall at all times have as a member at least 1 person with demonstrated experience working in or supervising community banks having less than $10,000,000,000 in total assets”.
Effective date— The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and apply to appointments made on and after that effective date, excluding any nomination pending in the Senate on that date.
Sec. 8 Designation of rural area
Application— Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall establish an application process under which a person who lives or does business in a State may, with respect to an area identified by the person in such State that has not been designated by the Bureau as a rural area for purposes of a Federal consumer financial law (as defined under section 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010), apply for such area to be so designated.
Evaluation Criteria— When evaluating an application submitted under subsection (a), the Bureau shall take into consideration the following factors:
Criteria used by the Director of the Bureau of the Census for classifying geographical areas as rural or urban.
Criteria used by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to designate counties as metropolitan or micropolitan or neither.
Criteria used by the Secretary of Agriculture to determine property eligibility for rural development programs.
The Department of Agriculture rural-urban commuting area codes.
A written opinion provided by the State’s bank supervisor, as defined under section 3(r) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(r)).
Population density.
Public Comment Period—
In general— Not later than 60 days after receiving an application submitted under subsection (a), the Bureau shall—
publish such application in the Federal Register; and
make such application available for public comment for not fewer than 90 days.
Limitation on additional applications— Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the Bureau, during the public comment period with respect to an application submitted under subsection (a), to accept an additional application with respect to the area that is the subject of the initial application.
Decision on Designation— Not later than 90 days after the end of the public comment period under subsection (c)(1) for an application, the Bureau shall—
grant or deny such application, in whole or in part; and
publish such grant or denial in the Federal Register, along with an explanation of what factors the Bureau relied on in making such determination.
Subsequent Applications— A decision by the Bureau under subsection (d) to deny an application for an area to be designated as a rural area shall not preclude the Bureau from accepting a subsequent application submitted under subsection (a) for such area to be so designated, so long as such subsequent application is made after the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date that the Bureau denies the application under subsection (d).