Today, Congressman Warren Davidson took to the House floor in support of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, a bill that will provide relief for consumers and community financial institutions. Davidson worked tirelessly with his colleagues on the Financial Services Committee to send this bill to the President's desk.

 

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Background:

The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act [S. 2155] will make key reforms to improve our financial system which you can read more about here.

 

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Regulatory Relief: Under Dodd-Frank, regulations have disproportionately impacted smaller banks, including through spiked compliance costs. This bill raises the threshold for banks that are required to comply with Dodd-Frank’s strictest prudential standards—regulations that can lead to higher cost of capital that ultimately translates into higher costs for consumers. Smaller banks will no longer be required yearly participation in Federal Reserve stress tests and will operate under a streamlined capital structure.

 

Enhancing Consumer Protections: This bill strengthens and creates protections for homeowners, consumers, and those with student loans. It also includes important provisions for veterans and service members and promotes financial literacy.

 

Improving Access to Credit: Access to credit enables participation in a growing economy: from small businesses that need start-up capital to families looking to take out a mortgage. This bill will help facilitate lending at credit unions and small- and medium-sized institutions, which do the majority of the country’s small business lending. It also amends mortgage rules, so that more creditworthy borrowers will have the chance to own their own homes. This is especially critical since both credit to middle-income families and small business lending have been diminished following the passage of post-crisis reforms.

 

Encouraging Capital Formation & Enriching Market Liquidity: The bill amends the Volcker Rule to exempt banks with under $10 billion in assets and smaller trading portfolios. This rule has proven difficult to implement and could lead to deteriorated market liquidity, posing potential risks to the financial system in downturns. The bill also relaxes certain rules on securities trading, to ensure capital markets continue to be a reliable source of financing for U.S. businesses.    

 

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