IB 

Union Calendar No. 474 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4790 

[Report No. 115–621] 

To amend the Volcker rule to give the Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System sole rulemaking authority, to exclude community banks 

from the requirements of the Volcker rule, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2018 

Mr. HILL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

APRIL 5, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Mr. FOSTER, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, and Mr. HULTGREN

APRIL 5, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 12, 2018] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Volcker rule to give the Board of Governors 

of the Federal Reserve System sole rulemaking authority, 

to exclude community banks from the requirements of 

the Volcker rule, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Volcker Rule Regulatory 

5 Harmonization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY UNDER THE VOLCKER 

7 RULE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 13(b) of 

9 the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 

10 1851(b)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(2) RULEMAKING.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board may, as ap13 propriate, consult with the Comptroller of the 

14 Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Cor15 poration, the Securities and Exchange Commis16 sion, or the Commodity Futures Trading Com17 mission to adopt rules or guidance to carry out 

18 this section, as provided in subparagraph (B). 

19 ‘‘(B) RULEMAKING REQUIREMENTS.—In 

20 adopting a rule or guidance under subparagraph 

21 (A), the Board— 

22 ‘‘(i) shall consider the findings of the 

23 report required in paragraph (1) and, as 

24 appropriate, subsequent reports; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) shall assure, to the extent possible, 

2 that such rule or guidance provide for con3 sistent application and implementation of 

4 the applicable provisions of this section to 

5 avoid providing advantages or imposing 

6 disadvantages to the companies affected by 

7 this subsection and to protect the safety and 

8 soundness of banking entities and nonbank 

9 financial companies supervised by the 

10 Board; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) shall include requirements to en12 sure compliance with this section, such as 

13 requirements regarding internal controls 

14 and recordkeeping. 

15 ‘‘(C) AUTHORITY.—The Board shall have 

16 sole authority to issue and amend rules under 

17 this section after the date of the enactment of this 

18 paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(D) CONFORMING AUTHORITY.— 

20 ‘‘(i) CONTINUITY OF REGULATIONS.— 

21 Any rules or guidance issued under this sec22 tion prior to the date of enactment of this 

23 paragraph shall continue in effect until the 

24 Board issues a successor rule or guidance, 


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1 or amends such rule or guidance, pursuant 

2 to subparagraph (C). 

3 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE GUIDANCE.—In per4 forming examinations or other supervisory 

5 duties, the appropriate Federal banking 

6 agencies, the Securities and Exchange Com7 mission, and the Commodity Futures Trad8 ing Commission, as appropriate, shall up9 date any applicable policies and procedures 

10 to ensure that such policies and procedures 

11 are consistent (to the extent practicable) 

12 with any rules or guidance issued pursuant 

13 to subparagraph (C).’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 13 of the 

15 Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1851) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘the appropriate Federal banking 

18 agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission, 

19 and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,’’ 

20 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘the Board’’; 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘appropriate Federal banking 

22 agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission, 

23 and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’’ 

24 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Board’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (c)(5), by striking ‘‘Notwith2 standing paragraph (2)’’ and all that follows through 

3 ‘‘provided in subsection (b)(2),’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

4 Board shall have the authority’’; and 

5 (4) in subsection (d)(1)— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (F)(ii)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘the appropriate Fed8 eral banking agencies’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

9 Board’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘have not jointly’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘has not’’; and 

12 (B) in subparagraph (G)(viii), by striking 

13 ‘‘appropriate Federal banking agencies, the Secu14 rities and Exchange Commission, or the Com15 modity Futures Trading Commission,’’ and in16 serting ‘‘Board,’’. 

17 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT; ANTI-EVASION. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 13 of the 

19 Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1851(e)) 

20 is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(e) ENFORCEMENT; ANTI-EVASION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE FEDERAL BANKING AGEN23 CY.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law ex24 cept for any rules or guidance issued under subsection 

25 (b)(2), whenever the appropriate Federal banking 


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1 agency has reasonable cause to believe that a banking 

2 entity or nonbank financial company supervised by 

3 the Board has made an investment or engaged in an 

4 activity in a manner that either violates the restric5 tions under this section, or that functions as an eva6 sion of the requirements of this section (including 

7 through an abuse of any permitted activity), such ap8 propriate Federal banking agency shall order, after 

9 due notice and opportunity for hearing, the banking 

10 entity or nonbank financial company supervised by 

11 the Board to terminate the activity and, as relevant, 

12 dispose of the investment. 

13 ‘‘(2) SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

14 AND COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

16 other provision of law except for any rules or 

17 guidance issued under subsection (b)(2), when18 ever the Securities and Exchange Commission or 

19 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as 

20 appropriate, has reasonable cause to believe that 

21 a covered nonbank financial company for which 

22 the respective agency is the primary Federal reg23 ulator has made an investment or engaged in an 

24 activity in a manner that either violates the re25 strictions under this section, or that functions as 


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1 an evasion of the requirements of this section 

2 (including through an abuse of any permitted 

3 activity), the Securities and Exchange Commis4 sion or the Commodity Futures Trading Com5 mission, as appropriate, shall order, after due 

6 notice and opportunity for hearing, the covered 

7 nonbank financial company to terminate the ac8 tivity and, as relevant, dispose of the investment. 

9 ‘‘(B) COVERED NONBANK FINANCIAL COM10 PANY DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 

11 ‘covered nonbank financial company’ means a 

12 nonbank financial company (as defined in sec13 tion 102 of the Financial Stability Act of 2010) 

14 supervised by the Securities and Exchange Com15 mission or the Commodity Futures Trading 

16 Commission, as appropriate.’’. 

17 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

18 shall be construed to abrogate, reduce, or eliminate the 

19 backup authority of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpora20 tion authority under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 

21 and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), the 

22 Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811), or Federal 

23 Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991. 


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1 SEC. 4. EXCLUSION OF COMMUNITY BANKS FROM VOLCKER 

2 RULE. 

3 Section 13(h)(1) of the Bank Holding Company Act 

4 of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1851(h)(1)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (D), by redesignating 

6 clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), respec7 tively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

8 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), 

9 (C), and (D) as clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv), re10 spectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

11 (3) in the matter preceding clause (i), as so re12 designated, in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘insti13 tution that functions solely in a trust or fiduciary ca14 pacity, if—’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘institu15 tion— 

16 ‘‘(A) that functions solely in a trust or fidu17 ciary capacity, if—’’; 

18 (4) in clause (iv)(II), as so redesignated, by 

19 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

20 and 

21 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(B) that does not have and is not con23 trolled by a company that has— 

24 ‘‘(i) more than $10,000,000,000 in 

25 total consolidated assets; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) total trading assets and trading 

2 liabilities, as reported on the most recent 

3 applicable regulatory filing filed by the in4 stitution, that are more than 5 percent of 

5 total consolidated assets.’’. 


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amozie on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 474 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4790 

[Report No. 115–621] 

A BILL 

To amend the Volcker rule to give the Board of 

and for other purposes. banks from the requirements of the Volcker rule, rulemaking authority, to exclude community Governors of the Federal Reserve System sole 

APRIL 5, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


amozie on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS