II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1962 

To provide relief to community banks, to promote access to capital for 

community banks, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 16, 2017 

Mr. ROUNDS (for himself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide relief to community banks, to promote access 

to capital for community banks, 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 ‘‘Community Bank Ac5 cess to Capital Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BASEL III EXEMPTION FOR COMMUNITY BANKS. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘community bank’’ means— 

9 (A) an insured depository institution; and 


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1 (B) a depository institution holding com2 pany with consolidated assets of not greater 

3 than $50,000,000,000; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘insured depository institution’’ 

5 has the meaning given the term in section 3(c) of 

6 the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 

7 1813(c)); and 

8 (3) the term ‘‘depository institution holding 

9 company’’ means a bank holding company or savings 

10 and loan holding company (as those terms are de11 fined under section 3(w) of the Federal Deposit In12 surance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(w))). 

13 (b) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later 

14 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

15 Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of 

16 the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit In17 surance Corporation shall each promulgate a regulation 

18 exempting community banks from any regulation issued 

19 to implement ‘‘Basel III: A global regulatory framework 

20 for more resilient banks and banking systems’’, as issued 

21 by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on De22 cember 16, 2010, and revised on June 1, 2011. 

23 (c) CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS ADJUSTMENT.—The 

24 Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of 

25 the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit InVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Oct 17, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1962.IS S1962

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1 surance Corporation shall make the revisions to capital re2 quirements as the Comptroller, the Board, and the Cor3 poration, respectively, determine are necessary or appro4 priate in light of the regulations required under subsection 

5 (b). 

6 SEC. 3. INTERNAL CONTROL ATTESTATION REQUIREMENT 

7 EXEMPTIONS. 

8 Section 404(c) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 

9 U.S.C. 7262(c)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘that is neither’’ and inserting 

11 the following: ‘‘that— 

12 ‘‘(1) is neither’’; 

13 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert14 ing ‘‘; or’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(2) is an insured depository institution or a 

17 depository institution holding company (as those 

18 terms are defined in section 3 of the Federal De19 posit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)), with consoli20 dated assets of not greater than $1,000,000,000.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. REGULATION D CHANGES. 

22 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission 

24 shall— 


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1 (1) amend section 230.501(a) of title 17, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations, so that, for purposes of cal3 culating net worth under paragraph (a)(5) of that 

4 section, the primary residence of a person shall be 

5 included as an asset; and 

6 (2) revise section 230.506(b)(2)(i) of title 17, 

7 Code of Federal Regulations, to change the limita8 tion on the number of purchasers contained in the 

9 section from 35 to 70. 

10 SEC. 5. CHANGES REQUIRED TO SMALL BANK HOLDING 

11 COMPANY POLICY STATEMENT ON ASSESS12 MENT OF FINANCIAL AND MANAGERIAL FAC13 TORS. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

15 (1) the term ‘‘bank holding company’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 2 of the Bank 

17 Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841); 

18 (2) the term ‘‘Board’’ means the Board of Gov19 ernors of the Federal Reserve System; and 

20 (3) the term ‘‘savings and loan holding com21 pany’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

22 10(a) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 

23 1467a(a)). 

24 (b) REVISION.—Not later than 180 days after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall revise apVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Oct 17, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1962.IS S1962

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1 pendix C of part 225 of title 12, Code of Federal Regula2 tions (commonly known as the ‘‘Small Bank Holding Com3 pany and Savings and Loan Holding Company Policy 

4 Statement’’), to raise the consolidated asset threshold 

5 under that appendix from $1,000,000,000 (as adjusted by 

6 Public Law 113–250 (12 U.S.C. 5371 note)) to 

7 $5,000,000,000 for a bank holding company or savings 

8 and loan holding company that— 

9 (1) is not engaged in significant nonbanking ac10 tivities either directly or through a nonbank sub11 sidiary; 

12 (2) does not conduct significant off-balance 

13 sheet activities (including securitization and asset 

14 management or administration) either directly or 

15 through a nonbank subsidiary; and 

16 (3) does not have a material amount of debt or 

17 equity securities outstanding (other than trust pre18 ferred securities) that are registered with the Securi19 ties and Exchange Commission. 

20 (c) EXCLUSIONS.—The Board may exclude any bank 

21 holding company or savings and loan holding company, re22 gardless of asset size, from the revision under subsection 

23 (b) if the Board determines that such action is warranted 

24 for supervisory purposes. 


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1 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 171(b)(5) 

2 of the Financial Stability Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

3 5371(b)(5)) is amended by striking subparagraph (C) and 

4 inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(C) any bank holding company or savings 

6 and loan holding company that is subject to the 

7 application of appendix C of part 225 of title 

8 12, Code of Federal Regulations (commonly 

9 known as the ‘Small Bank Holding Company 

10 and Savings and Loan Holding Company Policy 

11 Statement’).’’. 

Æ 


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