This story appeared in Bank Digest.
The House Financial Services Committee will hold a full committee markup on Jan. 17, 2018, and subsequent days if necessary, to consider 17 bills, including the Small Bank Holding Company Relief Act of 2018 (H.R. 4771) and the Volcker Rule Regulatory Harmonization Act (H.R. 4790). H.R. 4771 would direct the Federal Reserve to raise the threshold for its Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement from $1 billion to $3 billion. According to a press release by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), one of the bill's sponsors, the bill is intended to help small banks around the country get access to the capital they need to serve their communities.
H.R. 4790 would amend Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act, commonly known as the Volcker Rule, to streamline the regulatory authority over the Rule by granting the Federal Reserve the exclusive rulemaking authority and providing the primary federal banking agency for a banking entity the sole examination and enforcement authority. The bill also exempts community banks from the Volcker Rule if they have $10 billion or less in total consolidated assets.