House passes bipartisan bill granting Federal Reserve exclusive authority to implement Volcker Rule

Federal Issues Federal Legislation U.S. House Volcker Rule Federal Reserve Bank Holding Company Act

On April 13, the House passed H.R. 4790, the “Volcker Rule Regulatory Harmonization Act,” by a vote of 300-104. The bipartisan bill designates the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) as the exclusive regulatory authority to implement and amend rules under Section 13(b) of the Bank Holding Company Act. (Currently the Fed, the OCC, the FDIC, the SEC, and the CFTC share rulemaking authority under the rule.) H.R. 4790 also provides clear exemptions for banking entities with $10 billion or less in consolidated assets or those comprised of five percent or less of trading assets and liabilities. A similar exemption is included in the bipartisan Senate financial regulatory reform bill, S.2155, which passed the Senate in March (previously covered by InfoBytes here). According to a press release issued by the House Financial Services Committee, while H.R. 4790 does not repeal the Volcker Rule—which restricts banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading or entering into certain relationships with hedge and private equity funds—it does create a streamlined, efficient framework to provide increased regulatory clarity for entities required to comply with the rule.