Volcker Rule Regulatory Harmonization Act

Summary: Volcker Rule Regulatory Harmonization Act (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to grant exclusive rulemaking authority under the Volcker Rule to the Federal Reserve Board. (Currently, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also have regulatory authority under the Volcker Rule. The Volcker Rule prohibits banking agencies from engaging in proprietary trading or entering into certain relationships with hedge funds and private-equity funds.) (Sec. 4) The bill exempts from the Volcker Rule banks with total assets: (1) of $10 billion or less, and (2) comprised of 5% or less of trading assets and liabilities. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Volcker Rule Regulatory 
Harmonization Act''.

SEC. 2. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY UNDER THE VOLCKER RULE.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 13(b) of the Bank Holding 
Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1851(b)(2)) is amended to read as 
follows:
            ``(2) Rulemaking.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Board may, as appropriate, 
                consult with the Comptroller of the Currency, the 
                Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities 
                and Exchange Commission, or the Commodity Futures 
                Trading Commission to adopt rules or guidance to carry 
                out this section, as provided in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Rulemaking requirements.--In adopting a rule 
                or guidance under subparagraph (A), the Board--
                            ``(i) shall consider the findings of the 
                        report required in paragraph (1) and, as 
                        appropriate, subsequent reports;
                            ``(ii) shall assure, to the extent 
                        possible, that such rule or guidance provide 
                        for consistent application and implementation 
                        of the applicable provisions of this section to 
                        avoid providing advantages or imposing 
                        disadvantages to the companies affected by this 
                        subsection and to protect the safety and 
                        soundness of banking entities and nonbank 
                        financial companies supervised by the Board; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) shall include requirements to 
                        ensure compliance with this section, such as 
                        requirements regarding internal controls and 
                        recordkeeping.
                    ``(C) Authority.--The Board shall have sole 
                authority to issue and amend rules under this section 
                after the date of the enactment of this paragraph.
                    ``(D) Conforming authority.--
                            ``(i) Continuity of regulations.--Any rules 
                        or guidance issued under this section prior to 
                        the date of enactment of this paragraph shall 
                        continue in effect until the Board issues a 
                        successor rule or guidance, or amends such rule 
                        or guidance, pursuant to subparagraph (C).
                            ``(ii) Applicable guidance.--In performing 
                        examinations or other supervisory duties, the 
                        appropriate Federal banking agencies, the 
                        Securities and Exchange Commission, and the 
                        Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as 
                        appropriate, shall update any applicable 
                        policies and procedures to ensure that such 
                        policies and procedures are consistent (to the 
                        extent practicable) with any rules or guidance 
                        issued pursuant to subparagraph (C).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 13 of the Bank Holding Company 
Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1851) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``the appropriate Federal banking agencies, 
        the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity 
        Futures Trading Commission,'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``the Board'';
            (2) by striking ``appropriate Federal banking agencies, the 
        Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures 
        Trading Commission'' each place it appears and inserting 
        ``Board'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(5), by striking ``Notwithstanding 
        paragraph (2)'' and all that follows through ``provided in 
        subsection (b)(2),'' and inserting ``The Board shall have the 
        authority''; and
            (4) in subsection (d)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (F)(ii)--
                            (i) by striking ``the appropriate Federal 
                        banking agencies'' and inserting ``the Board''; 
                        and
                            (ii) by striking ``have not jointly'' and 
                        inserting ``has not''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (G)(viii), by striking 
                ``appropriate Federal banking agencies, the Securities 
                and Exchange Commission, or the Commodity Futures 
                Trading Commission,'' and inserting ``Board,''.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT; ANTI-EVASION.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (e) of section 13 of the Bank Holding 
Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1851(e)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) Enforcement; Anti-Evasion.--
            ``(1) Appropriate federal banking agency.--Notwithstanding 
        any other provision of law except for any rules or guidance 
        issued under subsection (b)(2), whenever the appropriate 
        Federal banking agency has reasonable cause to believe that a 
        banking entity or nonbank financial company supervised by the 
        Board has made an investment or engaged in an activity in a 
        manner that either violates the restrictions under this 
        section, or that functions as an evasion of the requirements of 
        this section (including through an abuse of any permitted 
        activity), such appropriate Federal banking agency shall order, 
        after due notice and opportunity for hearing, the banking 
        entity or nonbank financial company supervised by the Board to 
        terminate the activity and, as relevant, dispose of the 
        investment.
            ``(2) Securities and exchange commission and commodity 
        futures trading commission.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law except for any rules or guidance 
                issued under subsection (b)(2), whenever the Securities 
                and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures 
                Trading Commission, as appropriate, has reasonable 
                cause to believe that a covered nonbank financial 
                company for which the respective agency is the primary 
                Federal regulator has made an investment or engaged in 
                an activity in a manner that either violates the 
                restrictions under this section, or that functions as 
                an evasion of the requirements of this section 
                (including through an abuse of any permitted activity), 
                the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity 
                Futures Trading Commission, as appropriate, shall 
                order, after due notice and opportunity for hearing, 
                the covered nonbank financial company to terminate the 
                activity and, as relevant, dispose of the investment.
                    ``(B) Covered nonbank financial company defined.--
                In this paragraph, the term `covered nonbank financial 
                company' means a nonbank financial company (as defined 
                in section 102 of the Financial Stability Act of 2010) 
                supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission or 
                the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as 
                appropriate.''.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to abrogate, reduce, or eliminate the backup authority of the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation authority under the Dodd-Frank 
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et 
seq.), the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811), or Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991.

SEC. 4. EXCLUSION OF COMMUNITY BANKS FROM VOLCKER RULE.

    Section 13(h)(1) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 
1851(h)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (D), by redesignating clauses (i) and 
        (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and adjusting 
        the margins accordingly;
            (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) 
        as clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv), respectively, and 
        adjusting the margins accordingly;
            (3) in the matter preceding clause (i), as so redesignated, 
        in the second sentence, by striking ``institution that 
        functions solely in a trust or fiduciary capacity, if--'' and 
        inserting the following: ``institution--
                    ``(A) that functions solely in a trust or fiduciary 
                capacity, if--'';
            (4) in clause (iv)(II), as so redesignated, by striking the 
        period at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) that does not have and is not controlled by a 
                company that has--
                            ``(i) more than $10,000,000,000 in total 
                        consolidated assets; and
                            ``(ii) total trading assets and trading 
                        liabilities, as reported on the most recent 
                        applicable regulatory filing filed by the 
                        institution, that are more than 5 percent of 
                        total consolidated assets.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 13, 2018.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.