II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1816 

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 

JULY 21, 2015 

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 2015’’. 

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

7 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘commu8 nity bank’’ means an insured depository institution, as de9 fined in section 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act 


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1 (12 U.S.C. 1813(c)), with consolidated assets of not great2 er than $50,000,000,000. 

3 (b) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later 

4 than 3 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

5 the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors 

6 of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit 

7 Insurance Corporation shall each promulgate a regulation 

8 exempting community banks from any regulation issued 

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

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

11 by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on De12 cember 16, 2010 and revised on June 1, 2011. 

13 (c) CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS ADJUSTMENT.—The 

14 Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of 

15 the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit In16 surance Corporation shall make the revisions to capital re17 quirements as the Comptroller, the Board, and the Cor18 poration, respectively, determine are necessary or appro19 priate in light of the regulations required under subsection 

20 (b). 

21 SEC. 3. INTERNAL CONTROL ATTESTATION REQUIREMENT 

22 EXEMPTIONS. 

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

24 U.S.C. 7262(c)) is amended— 


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

2 the following: ‘‘that— 

3 ‘‘(1) is neither’’; 

4 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert5 ing ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

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

8 depository institution holding company (as those 

9 terms are defined in section 3 of the Federal De10 posit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)), with consoli11 dated assets of not greater than $1,000,000,000.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. REGULATION D CHANGES. 

13 The Securities and Exchange Commission— 

14 (1) may not adjust— 

15 (A) the $1,000,000 net worth threshold 

16 under section 230.501(a)(5) of title 17, Code of 

17 Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto; 

18 or 

19 (B) the $200,000 and $300,000 income 

20 thresholds under section 230.501(a)(6) of title 

21 17, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc22 cessor thereto; and 

23 (2) shall, not later than 3 months after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act, revise section 

25 230.506(b)(2)(i) of title 17, Code of Federal RegulaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Jul 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1816.IS S1816

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1 tions, to change the limitation on the number of pur2 chasers contained in the section from 35 to 70. 

3 SEC. 5. SHAREHOLDER THRESHOLD TREATMENT OF SAV4 INGS AND LOAN HOLDING COMPANIES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3(a) of the Securities Ex6 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating the second paragraph (80) 

8 (relating to funding portals) as paragraph (81); and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(82) BANK HOLDING COMPANY.—The term 

11 ‘bank holding company’ has the meaning given the 

12 term in section 2(a) of the Bank Holding Company 

13 Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841(a)). 

14 ‘‘(83) SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING COM15 PANY.—The term ‘savings and loan holding com16 pany’ has the meaning given the term in section 

17 10(a) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 

18 1467a(a)).’’. 

19 (b) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURI20 TIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.—Section 12(g) of the Se21 curities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l(g)) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘or a bank 

24 holding company, as such term is defined in section 

25 2 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 


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1 U.S.C. 1841)’’ and inserting ‘‘, a bank holding com2 pany, or a savings and loan holding company’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘or a bank 

4 holding company, as such term is defined in section 

5 2 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 

6 U.S.C. 1841), 1,200 persons persons’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘, a bank holding company, or a savings and loan 

8 holding company, 1,200 persons’’. 

9 (c) AMENDMENT TO SECTION 15 OF THE SECURI10 TIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.—Section 15(d) of the Se11 curities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o(d)) is 

12 amended, in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘or a bank 

13 holding company, as such term is defined in section 2 of 

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

15 1841), 1,200 persons persons’’ and inserting ‘‘, a bank 

16 holding company, or a savings and loan holding company, 

17 1,200 persons’’. 

Æ 


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