Community Bank Access to Capital Act of 2015

To provide relief to community banks and promote their access to capital, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Community Bank Access to Capital Act of 2015 2. Small bank holding company policy statement threshold (a) Asset threshold Not later than the end of the 3-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall revise the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors (12 C.F.R. part 225, appendix C) to change the asset threshold under such policy from less than $1,000,000,000 Public Law 113–250 less than $5,000,000,000 (b) Conforming amendment Section 171(b)(5)(C) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ( 12 U.S.C. 5371(b)(5)(C) $1,000,000,000 $5,000,000,000 3. Basel III exemption for community banks (a) In general Not later than the end of the 3-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall issue regulations exempting community banks from any regulation issued to implement the International regulatory framework for banks (Basel III) (b) Capital requirements adjustment The Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall make such revisions to capital requirements as they determine necessary or appropriate in light of the regulations required under subsection (a). (c) Community bank defined For purposes of this section, the term community bank 4. Internal control attestation requirement exemptions Section 404(c) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ( 15 U.S.C. 7262(c) (1) by striking that is neither that— (1) is neither ; (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting ; or (3) by adding at the end the following: (2) is an insured depository institution or a depository institution holding company (as such terms are defined, respectively, under section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act), and has less than $1,000,000,000 in consolidated assets. . 5. Regulation D changes The Securities and Exchange Commission— (1) may not adjust— (A) the $1,000,000 net worth threshold under section 230.501(a)(5) of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations; or (B) the $200,000 and $300,000 income thresholds under section 230.501(a)(6) of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations; and (2) shall, not later than the end of the 3-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, revise section 230.506(b)(2)(i) of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, to change the limitation on the number of purchasers contained in such section from 35 to 70. 6. Shareholder threshold treatment of savings and loan holding companies (a) Amendments to section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( 15 U.S.C. 78l(g) (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking or a bank holding company, as such term is defined in section 2 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 ( 12 U.S.C. 1841 , a bank holding company, or a savings and loan holding company (2) in paragraph (4), by striking or a bank holding company, as such term is defined in section 2 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 ( 12 U.S.C. 1841 , a bank holding company, or a savings and loan holding company (b) Amendments to section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( 15 U.S.C. 78o(d) or a bank holding company, as such term is defined in section 2 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 ( 12 U.S.C. 1841 , a bank holding company, or a savings and loan holding company of less than 1,200 persons (c) Definitions Section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( 15 U.S.C. 78c(a) (1) by redesignating the second paragraph (80) (relating to funding portals) as paragraph (81); and (2) by adding at the end the following: (82) Bank holding company The term bank holding company 12 U.S.C. 1841 (83) Savings and loan holding company The term savings and loan holding company 12 U.S.C. 1467a(a) .

Summary: Community Bank Access to Capital Act of 2015 This bill directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to increase the asset threshold under the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors from less than $1 billion to less than $5 billion. The Comptroller of the Currency, the Board, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shall exempt community banks from regulations implementing the International Regulatory Framework for Banks (Basel III), and, as they determine appropriate, to adjust the related capital requirements. A community bank is defined as one whose consolidated assets are $50 billion or less. The bill also exempts from the internal control attestation requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 both an insured depository institution and a depository institution holding company with consolidated assets of less than $1 billion. Savings and loan associations meeting specified asset and equity security holder criteria shall be subject to security registration requirements. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is prohibited from adjusting under Regulation D the $1 million net worth threshold and $200,000 and $300,000 income thresholds that define a natural person as an accredited investor. The SEC shall increase from 35 to 70 the number of purchasers of securities in transactions deemed not to involve a public offering and so are exempt from regulation under the Securities Exchange Act of 1933. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is amended to: (1) subject a savings and loan holding company to registration requirements for securities whose issuer has total assets exceeding $10 million and a class of non-exempt equity security held of record by 2,000 or more persons; and (2) apply the automatic termination of registration, and suspension of the duty to file supplementary and periodic information, to a savings and loan holding company whose securities are found to be held by less than 1,200 persons.