Legislation

Saying that Congress is “long overdue” to work together on legislation to prevent money laundering and counter terrorism financing, a group of financial services trade associations wrote House leaders in support of two bills expected to get votes this week.

The bills would create a national database that banks could use to verify a business’s beneficial ownership information and modernize the existing Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework by enhancing bank-law enforcement communications.

Read on for more details of the associations’ outreach.

Financial industry advocates noted their concerns about draft legislation on third-party vendor authority with regard to third-party cloud storage providers in letters to House leaders.

The draft legislation proposes to amend the Bank Service Company Act to cover vendors of credit unions and entities supervised by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to the same extent as it covers banks and savings associations.

Find out what financial trade associations had to say about the proposed measure.

As the constitutionality question looms seemingly larger than ever over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), financial industry advocates largely have maintained their long-held contention that the best remedy for the bureau’s controversial leadership structure is to reform it as a bipartisan commission.

The Consumer Bankers Association noted that such a structure was proposed in the original version of Dodd-Frank that passed the House with bipartisan support in 2010.

Find out what specific points the trade organization cited.

Legislation recently was introduced in the Senate as part of a package of eight bills geared toward making college more accessible to underserved and minority communities.

The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) expressed its support for the measure, noting that it wishes to see future legislative action regarding federal student loan disclosures.

Read on to learn more about the bill.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a final rule to dramatically increase the threshold for national banks and federal savings associations to be covered by the OCC’s Dodd-Frank Act stress testing.

The agency considered recommendations pertaining to the testing requirements and the frequency with which the tests are conducted.

Read on for more information about the rule, which aligns with financial reform legislation passes last year.

In light of concerns over the perceived lack of supporting evidence behind the implementation of the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard, legislation has been proposed that would rein in the unique independence of the agency that promulgated it – the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) introduced the measure, which would direct regulators to create a rule forcing FASB to abide by the same rulemaking guidelines under which all other federal financial regulators operate.

Read on to learn more about the legislation.

After months of advocacy from the financial and cannabis industries, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Act passed the House with strong bipartisan support.

The bill’s passage is a major step forward in the push to allow financial entities to bank the cannabis industry without fear of legal repercussions. However, it still needs Senate approval to become law, which could prove to be a tall order.

Find out what obstacles to adoption remain ahead for the legislation.

The financial industry, which has been clamoring for a modernized approach to Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) compliance policies, has expressed support for a bipartisan bill recently introduced in the Senate.

The Illicit Cash Act (S. 2563), introduced by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), would create a beneficial ownership registry within the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to help eliminate illegal activities perpetrated by anonymous shell corporations.

Find out more details about the legislation.

Credit union advocates recommended that lawmakers amend legislation intended to expand military members’ access to banking services by eliminating a provision that would allow banks to operate on military bases essentially rent-free – a benefit which currently applies to credit unions.

Banking trades specifically have advocated that the provision be included in the final, combined version of the legislation to facilitate a level playing field between the two types of entities. 

Find out more about the difference of opinion between the two.

The House recently passed legislation seeking to prohibit companies from including forced arbitration clauses in product and service agreements.

The Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act seems unlikely to gain support in the Senate, which voted to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule outlawing forced arbitration nearly two years ago.

Find out more about the bill’s chances of adoption or lack thereof.