ABA Dodd-Frank Tracker

ABA-Advocated Bills Gain Additional Co-Sponsors

2013-05-24T08:30:00.000-04:00

Sens. Angus King (I-ME) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) on Wednesday signed on as co-sponsors of S. 731, the ABA-advocated bill to stop and study implementation of the Basel III capital rules. That brings the legislation's cosponsor total to 13.

Earlier this week, eight House members signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 1553, the ABA-advocated exam fairness bill, bringing its co-sponsor total to 88. And S. 710, which would exempt banks from municipal advisor registration requirements, now has 11 bipartisan sponsors and co-sponsors.

ABA continues to encourage bankers to write to their lawmakers asking them to support and co-sponsor these bills using the following links:

Municipal Advisors Bill Introduced

2013-04-12T11:29:00.002-04:00

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) yesterday introduced ABA-advocated legislation (S. 710) that would provide for an exemption for commercial banks and savings and loan associations from the Dodd-Frank Act provisions requiring regulation of municipal advisors.

In a letter to Senators, ABA said:

ABA believes that Congress did not intend for banks and savings institutions that are already supervised and examined to be regulated as municipal advisors. Both the exemptions in Section 975 and the fact that examination authority was provided solely to the SEC support this view. ABA strongly believes a complete exemption is required because these institutions provide such a broad array of traditional banking products and services to municipalities that any limited exemption will necessarily cover activities that should not be captured.

House Approves Muni Adviser Bill

2012-09-20T07:48:00.000-04:00

The House passed by voice vote last night a substitute version of a bill (H.R. 2827) that would clarify what constitutes a municipal adviser and would exempt banks providing “traditional banking products” from the SEC’s proposed rule implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s Section 975. The Senate still must pass the legislation.

The bill’s “traditional banking products” definition covers deposits, bankers acceptances, letters of credits, loans, certain loan participations and swap agreements. The legislation also exempts banks for trust services that are subject to a state or federal fiduciary duty, and extends to them the existing exemption for registered investment advisers.

ABA expressed concern in a memo to the Financial Services Committee on Sept. 11 that the well-intentioned substitute bill wouldn’t adequately cover the range of products and services that banks provide to municipalities. It also may not provide an exemption for the negotiations that banks regularly undertake with municipalities when booking loan products such as tax anticipation notes and revenue anticipation notes, ABA said.

Read the legislation.

House Panel Approves Muni Adviser Bill

2012-09-13T08:09:00.001-04:00

The House Financial Services Committee yesterday approved by voice vote a substitute version of a bill (H.R. 2827) that would clarify what constitutes a municipal adviser and would exempt banks providing “traditional banking products” from the SEC’s proposed rule implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s Section 975.

The bill’s narrow “traditional banking products” definition covers deposits, bankers acceptances, letters of credits, loans, certain loan participations and swap agreements. The legislation also exempts banks for trust services that are subject to a state or federal fiduciary duty, and extends to them the existing exemption for registered investment advisers.

The committee approved an amendment—offered by H.R. 2827’s sponsor, Rep. Robert Dold—that would eliminate the need for individuals employed by municipal advisory firms to separately register with the SEC. It also adopted panel ranking member Barney Frank’s amendment deleting the bill’s provision requiring municipal adviser registration only where the adviser had a written contract to provide advice for separate compensation.

ABA expressed concern Tuesday in a memo to the committee that the well-intentioned substitute legislation wouldn’t adequately cover the range of products and services that banks provide to municipalities. It also may not provide an exemption for the negotiations that banks regularly undertake with municipalities when booking loan products such as tax anticipation notes and revenue anticipation notes, ABA said.

Read the legislation.

ABA Urges Panel to Approve Muni Adviser Bill

2012-09-12T08:13:00.002-04:00

ABA yesterday urged the House Financial Services Committee to approve the version of Rep. Robert Dold’s (R-Ill.) municipal advisers bill (H.R. 2827) that the Capital Markets Subcommittee passed on Aug. 1.

The legislation would clarify what constitutes a municipal adviser and would exempt banks from the SEC’s proposed rule implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s Section 975. The committee is slated to consider H.R. 2827 today.

In a memo James Ballentine, ABA EVP for congressional relations said,

The SEC’s proposal would require registration and reporting not only by banks, but also by individual bank employees giving ‘advice’ -- a term which is not defined -- with enforcement and examination handled by the SEC instead of by bank regulators.

Ballentine emphasized that the required registration would impose a new and different layer of regulation and examination on banks for no meaningful public purpose. He noted that Capital Markets Subcommittee members said during a recent hearing on the issue that this was not Congress’ intent when it approved Section 975.

ABA strongly believes a complete exemption is required [for commercial banks and savings and loan associations] because these institutions provide such a broad array of traditional banking products and services to municipalities that any attempt to categorize them would necessarily be incomplete.

Read the memo.

HFS Committee Releases September Schedule

2012-09-05T11:52:00.002-04:00

The House Financial Services Committee has released its September schedule.

On September 12, the full Committee will hold a markup of pending bills. While a list of legislation has not yet been released, it may include legislation on municipal advisors by Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL), which the Capital Markets Subcommittee approved a version of (H.R. 2827) last month.

Also next week, the Capital Markets Subcommittee will hold a joint hearing with the Oversight and Government Reform TARP and Financial Services Subcommittee on the implementation of the JOBS Act.

Later in the month, the full Committee is scheduled to meet September 20 to review the semi-annual report of the CFPB with CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

Dodd-Frank Act Helping Community Banks?

2012-08-28T15:55:00.000-04:00

Treasury in a recent blog post attempted to explain how the Dodd-Frank Act has helped Main Street banks—community banks. The post states Treasury “recognizes that small banks were not the cause of the financial crisis,” and attempts to explain how new regulations “level the playing field” for community banks.

Read Treasury’s post here.

ABA has identified multiple issues facing community banks that have stemmed from the Dodd-Frank Act, including the following:

Capital Requirements
The Creation of the Another Regulatory Supervisor: CFPB
FDIC Coverage and Assessment Base Changes
Mortgage Finance Changes
Housing: QM and QRM Changes
Interchange Restrictions
Municipal Advisors Regulations
The Merger of OTS into OCC
Preemption Changes
Changes for Savings and Holding Companies
New Swap Regulations
Volcker Rule

These issues are discussed in the ABA online booklet—“Dodd-Frank and Community Banks: Your Guide to 12 Critical Issues.”

Download the free guide.

Bill to Amend Financial Stability Act Introduced to Senate Committee

2012-08-03T10:52:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Senator Vitter introduced to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs S. 3497, a bill to amend the Financial Stability Act of 2010 in order to repeal certain designation authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Payment, Clearing, and Settlement Supervision Act of 2010.

Senator Toomey also introduced a bill to the committee, cosponsored by Senator Carper, Senator McCaskill and Senator Moran. The bill, S. 3492, would provide for exemptions from municipal advisor registration requirements.

SEC Names Head of the Office of Municipal Securities

2012-08-02T15:50:00.003-04:00

The SEC today announced that municipal securities expert John J. Cross III has been named the director of the agency’s new Office of Municipal Securities, mandated by Dodd-Frank. One of the functions of the office will be to coordinate with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Mr. Cross served as the Associate Tax Legislative Counsel in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, where he played a significant role in the Treasury Department’s efforts to address municipal bond market challenges in the 2008 financial crisis.

Read more.

House Panel Approves Muni Adviser Bill

2012-08-02T08:01:00.002-04:00

The House Financial Services’ Capital Markets Subcommittee approved by a 21-10 vote an ABA-supported bill (H.R. 2827) that would clarify what constitutes a municipal adviser and would exempt banks from the SEC’s proposed rule implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s Section 975.

ABA in a memo Tuesday urged the panel to approve Rep. Robert Dold’s (R-Ill.) legislation because, among other things, the SEC’s proposed rule would require thousands of bankers and their banks to register as municipal advisers for offering the traditional services they have provided to towns and cities for decades.

H.R. 2827’s exemption “provides certainty to banks, already subject to comprehensive regulation, that they may continue to serve their communities without triggering unduly burdensome regulation by yet another regulatory entity,” James Ballentine, ABA EVP for congressional relations, said in the memo.

Read ABA’s memo.

ABA Urges HFS to Approve Muni Adviser Bill

2012-08-01T07:59:00.000-04:00

ABA yesterday urged the House Financial Services’ Capital Markets Subcommittee to approve Rep. Robert Dold’s (R-Ill.) bill (H.R. 2827) that would clarify what constitutes a municipal adviser and would exempt banks from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rule implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s Section 975. The panel is slated to consider the legislation today.

“The SEC’s proposal would require registration and reporting not only by banks, but also by individual bank employees giving ‘advice’ -- a term which is not defined -- with enforcement and examination handled by the SEC instead of by bank regulators,” James Ballentine, ABA EVP for congressional relations, said in a memo.

Ballentine emphasized that the required registration would impose a new and different layer of regulation and examination on banks for no meaningful public purpose. He noted that subcommittee members during a recent hearing on the issue said this was not Congress’ intent when it approved Section 975.

“ABA strongly believes a complete exemption is required [for commercial banks and savings and loan associations] because these institutions provide such a broad array of traditional banking products and services to municipalities that any attempt to categorize them would necessarily be incomplete,” Ballentine said.

“A complete exemption further provides certainty to banks, already subject to comprehensive regulation, that they may continue to serve their communities without triggering unduly burdensome regulation by yet another regulatory entity,” he said.

Read the memo.
Read the bill.

House Panel to Consider Muni Adviser Bill on Wednesday

2012-07-31T08:09:00.002-04:00

The House Financial Services’ Capital Markets Subcommittee on Wednesday is slated consider an ABA-supported bill (H.R. 2827) -- introduced by Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill.) -- that would clarify what constitutes a municipal adviser and remove financial institutions from the proposed Securities and Exchange Commission definition.

Read the bill.

Hearing: Impact of Dodd-Frank on Municipal Finance

2012-07-20T07:51:00.000-04:00

ABA Chairman Kell Kelly will testify today at 9:30 am at a House Financial Services’ Capital Markets Subcommittee hearing on the Dodd-Frank Act’s effect on municipal finance.

The hearing will cover an ABA-supported bill (H.R. 2827) -- introduced by Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill.) -- that would provide clarity on what constitutes a municipal adviser.

ABA strongly believes that Section 975 of the Dodd-Frank Act was not intended to cover banks. Instead, it established a regulatory scheme for unregulated entities providing advice to municipalities with respect to the municipal financial products defined by Congress.

However, the SEC has proposed rules that interpret the scope of the “municipal financial products” in Section 975 far beyond the securities activities of state and local governments to reach all “funds held by or on behalf of a municipal entity.” This would mean that giving advice about traditional bank products such as deposits and loans could trigger registration as municipal advisors by most banks and each of their employees…

Read Kelly's full testimony and watch the hearing live.

SEC Weighing Advisor Exemptions

2012-03-08T12:43:00.000-05:00

SEC Commissioner Gallagher gave a speech today at an Investment Adviser Association conference. He discussed the decision factors the SEC is using to consider whether and how to exempt certain advisors from reporting requirements.

ABA has many concerns about the SEC's proposal for municipal advisor registration. ABA wrote a comment letter last year with the state banking associations expressing our concerns:

We believe the [SEC] proposal goes well beyond what is required either by the statute or the problems that the statute was written to solve.

In doing so not only would it subject our member banks to yet one more layer of regulation for the same activities, but it would increase the cost and reduce the availability of financial services for local municipal governments and other municipal operations.

See the letter.

House Appropriations Hearing Regarding SEC

2012-03-05T11:21:00.002-05:00

The House Appropriations Finacial Services Subcommittee will hold a hearing tomorrow on fiscal year 2013 appropriations for the SEC at 10 a.m. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro will testify.
Watch the live webcast.

Thousands Download ABA Dodd-Frank Guide

2012-02-24T12:30:00.000-05:00

Bankers have downloaded more than 6,000 copies of “Dodd-Frank and Community Banks: Your Guide to 12 Critical Issues” -- ABA’s latest free resource to help bankers understand and manage Dodd-Frank Act provisions.

The guide describes 12 key DFA issues that are expected to see action in 2012, explains why they matter and offers ways bankers can get involved in order to influence the outcome. A hard copy of the guide was mailed earlier this month to all banks with less than $10 billion in assets.

Download the guide.

OCC's Walsh: Duplicative Regulation Unnecessary

2012-02-24T10:26:00.002-05:00

Acting Comptroller Walsh recently responded to several questions for the record (QFR) for the SEC regarding its Municipal Advisor rule. Walsh makes it very clear that the rule is duplicative for banks:

Banks are already subject to ongoing supervision, examination, and enforcement by the OCC and other federal banking regulators for these same activities. Duplicative regulation and supervision of traditional banking activities is unnecessary and may be especially burdensome on smaller, community institutions.

ABA has advocated a similar position for some time, strongly supporting bills (S. 1824 and H.R. 2827) introduced by Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-Pa.)and Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill.) that would exclude banks from the SEC's proposed municipal adviser rule. ABA also wrote a joint letter with state banking associations last year, advocating that banks bankers providing traditional banking products and services not be required to register as municipal advisors.

Read the letter.

ABA supported this position in its recent “Dodd-Frank and Community Banks" guide, where it outlined the problems with the proposal and ways that bankers can advocate for changes..

Read the municipal advisor piece in the ABA guide.

ABA Dodd-Frank Guide for Community Banks Available Online

2012-02-15T11:37:00.002-05:00

ABA has posted online its booklet -- “Dodd-Frank and Community Banks: Your Guide to 12 Critical Issues” -- aimed at helping community bankers focus on the most critical Dodd-Frank issues that are expected to see action in 2012. The guide describes the issues, explains why they matter and offers ways bankers can get involved in order to influence the outcome.

Download the guide.

View other Dodd-Frank resources.

SEC Extends Temporary Muni Adviser Registration Rule

2011-12-22T09:01:00.000-05:00

The SEC yesterday extended to Sept. 30, 2012, an interim final temporary rule that enables municipal advisers to satisfy registration requirements by completing Form MA-T through the SEC’s website. The rule would have expired on Dec. 31 without the extension.

With the extension, municipal advisers can fulfill their registration requirement until the SEC promulgates a final rule that will establish another registration method, prescribe a new form and set up an electronic registration system.

Read the interim final temporary rule extension.

SEC Muni Advisors Proposal Goes Beyond Intent

2011-12-21T10:56:00.000-05:00

A bipartisan group of 34 House Members in a letter this week to the SEC regarding the proposal on municipal advisors under the Dodd-Frank Act stated the proposal goes:

far beyond the statute’s intent and scope by capturing, in the ‘municipal advisor’ definition, parties and activities that were not anticipated by Congress or authorized by the statute.

The letter explained that Congress meant the statute to be "intentionally narrow” to apply only to those who were not already subject to state or federal regulation.

We strongly believe the Commission should promptly scale back the scope and application of the proposed rules to define the term ‘municipal advisor’ as Congress intended.

ABA with the state bankers associations expressed similar concerns with the proposal in a letter to the SEC in June.

Read House Members’ letter to the SEC.
Read ABA and state associations' letter to the SEC.

ABA Community Bank Leaders Advocate for Reg Relief

2011-11-09T09:08:00.001-05:00

The ABA America’s Community Bankers Council - a group of more than 100 bankers that meets twice a year to advise ABA on top issues facing the nation’s community banks and their customers - gathered in Washington, D.C. yesterday for its fall meeting.

In addition to discussing current policy issues, the bankers advocated for bills that would update the Securities and Exchange Commission’s shareholder registration threshold and relieve banks from having to register as municipal advisers.

The meeting continues today and will include meetings with senior officials from the bank regulatory agencies. The council also will hear from Raj Date, acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Read more about ABA's America’s Community Bankers Council.

ABA & State Associations Express “Deep Concern” Over Muni Advisor Rule

2011-06-29T12:05:00.000-04:00

ABA and the state bankers associations expressed “deep concern” about the SEC’s proposal on municipal advisors.

We believe the proposal goes well beyond what is required either by the statute or the problems that the statute was written to solve.

In doing so not only would it subject our member banks to yet one more layer of regulation for the same activities, but it would increase the cost and reduce the availability of financial services for local municipal governments and other municipal operations.

ABA and the state associations stressed that a final rule should “state clearly that banks and bankers providing traditional banking products and services are not required to register as municipal advisors,” and that “banks should be granted the same exemption from municipal advisor registration as registered investment advisors are for comparable advisory activities.”

See the letter.

Senate Banking Chairman Urges Banks’ Exclusion From Muni Adviser Registration

2011-06-17T14:35:00.000-04:00

Senate Banking Chairman Tim Johnson said that banks offering traditional services to municipalities should be exempt from the SEC’s muni advisor proposal.

In a letter to SEC’s Schapiro, Johnson said:

Such registration was not the focus of Section 975 of the [Dodd-Frank] Act, and in my view was not intended by the act. I believe any final regulation should preclude such a requirement.

See Johnson’s letter.

OCC Urges Exclusion from Muni Advisor Registraion

2011-06-09T12:28:00.000-04:00

OCC Acting Comptroller John Walsh urged the SEC to exclude banks that offer traditional services from the municipal advisor registration rule.

Traditional banking products and services, such as commercial deposit-taking and trust and fiduciary services, already are subject to extensive supervision and regulation.

In our view, imposing the additional registration, examination, and other requirements as set forth in the Proposed Rules to those services is unnecessary and duplicative.

We therefore strongly support [this] type of exclusion from the definition of "municipal advisor".

See the letter.

Massachusetts Lawmakers Ask SEC to Exclude Banks From Muni Advisers Rule

2011-06-09T09:31:00.002-04:00

Sen. John Kerry (D), Sen. Scott Brown (R) and Rep. Barney Frank (D) -- all of Massachusetts -- urged the SEC to exclude banks providing traditional services to municipalities from its municipal advisor registration proposal.

The MA legislators said the SEC proposal creates “the unintended consequence of subjecting many banks and bank personnel to onerous regulation regardless of whether they provide the type of advice that would warrant regulation under DFA” and goes “beyond the intent of the legislative language.”

Read the letter.