I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5180 

To amend the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to restore the separation 

between banking and commerce by prohibiting bank holding company 

ownership of non-financial assets, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois (for himself, Ms. TLAIB, and Ms. JACKSON LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to restore 

the separation between banking and commerce by prohibiting bank holding company ownership of non-financial 

assets, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Consumers 

5 from Market Manipulation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN LARGE NON-FINANCIAL 

2 COMPANIES WITH RESPECT TO ACTIVITIES 

3 THAT ARE FINANCIAL IN NATURE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—A large non-financial company 

5 that is not registered as a bank holding company may not 

6 (either directly or indirectly, or through a subsidiary) en7 gage in activities that are financial in nature if engaging 

8 in such activities would result in such activities producing 

9 the lower of— 

10 (1) 5 percent of the revenue of the large non11 financial company; or 

12 (2) $1,000,000,000 in revenue. 

13 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) ACTIVITIES THAT ARE FINANCIAL IN NA15 TURE.—The term ‘‘activities that are financial in 

16 nature’’ has the meaning given that term under sec17 tion 4(k)(4) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 

18 1956. 

19 (2) BANK HOLDING COMPANY.—The term 

20 ‘‘bank holding company’’ has the meaning given that 

21 term under section 2 of the Bank Holding Company 

22 Act of 1956. 

23 (3) LARGE NON-FINANCIAL COMPANY.—The 

24 term ‘‘large non-financial company’’ means a com25 pany that— 


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1 (A) has annual revenues of more than 

2 $5,000,000,000; and 

3 (B) is not predominantly engaged in finan4 cial activities (as such term is defined under 

5 section 102 of the Financial Stability Act of 

6 2010). 

7 (4) SUBSIDIARY.—The term ‘‘subsidiary’’ has 

8 the meaning given that term under section 2 of the 

9 Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. 

10 SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON COMMODITY OWNERSHIP AND RE11 PEAL OF THE MERCHANT BANKING AUTHOR12 ITY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Bank Holding 

14 Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (k)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(by reg17 ulation or order)’’ and inserting ‘‘, by regula18 tion’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (i) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

21 THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE COR22 PORATION’’ after ‘‘TREASURY’’; and 

23 (ii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(C) JOINT DETERMINATION WITH THE

2 FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORA3 TION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the 

4 Board may only make a determination that an 

5 activity is complementary to a financial activity 

6 and does not pose a substantial risk to the safe7 ty or soundness of depository institutions or the 

8 financial system generally, if such determina9 tion is made jointly, by rule, with the Federal 

10 Deposit Insurance Corporation.’’; 

11 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

12 (i) by striking subparagraph (H); and 

13 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph (I) 

14 as subparagraph (H); and 

15 (D) by striking paragraph (7); 

16 (2) in subsection (l)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub18 section (k), (n), or (o)’’ each place such term 

19 appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (k) or (n)’’; 

20 and 

21 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘sub22 paragraph (H) or (I)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara23 graph (H)’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (m)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘sub2 section (k), (n), or (o)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

3 (k) or (n)’’; 

4 (4) in subsection (n)(5), by striking ‘‘subpara5 graph (H) or (I)’’ each place such term appears and 

6 inserting ‘‘subparagraph (H)’’; and 

7 (5) by striking subsection (o). 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

9 3(a)(4)(B)(vi) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

10 U.S.C. 78c(a)(4)(B)(vi)) is amended by striking ‘‘other 

11 than’’ and all that follows through the end and inserting 

12 ‘‘other than a registered broker or dealer.’’. 

13 (c) RULEMAKING.—The Board of Governors of the 

14 Federal Reserve System shall— 

15 (1) issue rules to carry out the amendments 

16 made by this section; and 

17 (2) provide for an appropriate transition period 

18 before persons are required to comply with the 

19 amendments made by this section, including allowing 

20 for the divestment of shares, assets, and ownership 

21 interests affected by such amendments. 

22 SEC. 4. DIGITAL CURRENCY STUDIES. 

23 (a) FSOC STUDY.—The Financial Stability Over24 sight Council shall carry out a study, and issue a report 

25 to Congress that— 


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1 (1) examines the financial stability implications 

2 of digital currency; and 

3 (2) determines whether digital currencies should 

4 be designated as designated financial market utilities 

5 under title VIII of the Payment, Clearing, and Set6 tlement Supervision Act of 2010. 

7 (b) FEDERAL RESERVE STUDY.—The Board of Gov8 ernors of the Federal Reserve System shall carry out a 

9 study and issue a report to Congress that— 

10 (1) examines the monetary policy and monetary 

11 sovereignty implications of digital currency; and 

12 (2) proposes a framework for supervising any 

13 digital currency that is designated as a designated 

14 financial market utility under title VIII of the Pay15 ment, Clearing, and Settlement Supervision Act of 

16 2010. 

17 (c) DIGITAL CURRENCY DEFINED.—In this section, 

18 the term ‘‘digital currency’’ means a digital representation 

19 of value that— 

20 (1) can be digitally traded; 

21 (2) functions as— 

22 (A) a medium of exchange; 

23 (B) a unit of account; or 

24 (C) a store of value; 


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1 (3) does not have legal tender status (i.e., when 

2 tendered to a creditor, is a valid and legal offer of 

3 payment) in any jurisdiction; 

4 (4) is not issued nor guaranteed by any juris5 diction; 

6 (5) fulfils the functions described under para7 graph (2) only by agreement within the community 

8 of users of the virtual currency; 

9 (6) is not sovereign currency (also known as 

10 ‘‘real currency’’, ‘‘real money’’, or ‘‘national cur11 rency’’), which is the coin and paper money of a 

12 country that is designated as its legal tender, cir13 culates, and is customarily used and accepted as a 

14 medium of exchange in the issuing country; and 

15 (7) is not e-money, which is a digital represen16 tation of sovereign currency used to electronically 

17 transfer value denominated in sovereign currency 

18 and is a digital transfer mechanism for sovereign 

19 currency (meaning that it electronically transfers 

20 value that has legal tender status). 

Æ 


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