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) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Finan-
cial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to restore 
the separation between banking and commerce by prohib-
iting bank holding company ownership of non-financial 
assets, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Consumers 
from Market Manipulation Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN LARGE NON-FINANCIAL 
COMPANIES WITH RESPECT TO ACTIVITIES 
THAT ARE FINANCIAL IN NATURE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A large non-financial company 
that is not registered as a bank holding company may not 
(either directly or indirectly, or through a subsidiary) en-
gage in activities that are financial in nature if engaging 
in such activities would result in such activities producing 
the lower of— 
(1) 5 percent of the revenue of the large non- 
financial company; or 
(2) $1,000,000,000 in revenue. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ACTIVITIES THAT ARE FINANCIAL IN NA-
TURE.—The term ‘‘activities that are financial in 
nature’’ has the meaning given that term under sec-
tion 4(k)(4) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 
1956. 
(2) BANK
HOLDING
COMPANY.—The term 
‘‘bank holding company’’ has the meaning given that 
term under section 2 of the Bank Holding Company 
Act of 1956. 
(3) LARGE
NON-FINANCIAL
COMPANY.—The 
term ‘‘large non-financial company’’ means a com-
pany that— 
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(A) has annual revenues of more than 
$5,000,000,000; and 
(B) is not predominantly engaged in finan-
cial activities (as such term is defined under 
section 102 of the Financial Stability Act of 
2010). 
(4) SUBSIDIARY.—The term ‘‘subsidiary’’ has 
the meaning given that term under section 2 of the 
Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON COMMODITY OWNERSHIP AND RE-
PEAL OF THE MERCHANT BANKING AUTHOR-
ITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Bank Holding 
Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (k)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(by reg-
ulation or order)’’ and inserting ‘‘, by regula-
tion’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘AND 
THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE COR-
PORATION’’ after ‘‘TREASURY’’; and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(C) JOINT
DETERMINATION
WITH
THE 
FEDERAL
DEPOSIT
INSURANCE
CORPORA-
TION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the 
Board may only make a determination that an 
activity is complementary to a financial activity 
and does not pose a substantial risk to the safe-
ty or soundness of depository institutions or the 
financial system generally, if such determina-
tion is made jointly, by rule, with the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation.’’; 
(C) in paragraph (4)— 
(i) by striking subparagraph (H); and 
(ii) by redesignating subparagraph (I) 
as subparagraph (H); and 
(D) by striking paragraph (7); 
(2) in subsection (l)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (k), (n), or (o)’’ each place such term 
appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (k) or (n)’’; 
and 
(B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘sub-
paragraph (H) or (I)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara-
graph (H)’’; 
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(3) in subsection (m)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (k), (n), or (o)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 
(k) or (n)’’; 
(4) in subsection (n)(5), by striking ‘‘subpara-
graph (H) or (I)’’ each place such term appears and 
inserting ‘‘subparagraph (H)’’; and 
(5) by striking subsection (o). 
(b) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
3(a)(4)(B)(vi) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 
U.S.C. 78c(a)(4)(B)(vi)) is amended by striking ‘‘other 
than’’ and all that follows through the end and inserting 
‘‘other than a registered broker or dealer.’’. 
(c) RULEMAKING.—The Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System shall— 
(1) issue rules to carry out the amendments 
made by this section; and 
(2) provide for an appropriate transition period 
before persons are required to comply with the 
amendments made by this section, including allowing 
for the divestment of shares, assets, and ownership 
interests affected by such amendments. 
SEC. 4. DIGITAL CURRENCY STUDIES. 
(a) FSOC STUDY.—The Financial Stability Over-
sight Council shall carry out a study, and issue a report 
to Congress that— 
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(1) examines the financial stability implications 
of digital currency; and 
(2) determines whether digital currencies should 
be designated as designated financial market utilities 
under title VIII of the Payment, Clearing, and Set-
tlement Supervision Act of 2010. 
(b) FEDERAL RESERVE STUDY.—The Board of Gov-
ernors of the Federal Reserve System shall carry out a 
study and issue a report to Congress that— 
(1) examines the monetary policy and monetary 
sovereignty implications of digital currency; and 
(2) proposes a framework for supervising any 
digital currency that is designated as a designated 
financial market utility under title VIII of the Pay-
ment, Clearing, and Settlement Supervision Act of 
2010. 
(c) DIGITAL CURRENCY DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘digital currency’’ means a digital representation 
of value that— 
(1) can be digitally traded; 
(2) functions as— 
(A) a medium of exchange; 
(B) a unit of account; or 
(C) a store of value; 
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(3) does not have legal tender status (i.e., when 
tendered to a creditor, is a valid and legal offer of 
payment) in any jurisdiction; 
(4) is not issued nor guaranteed by any juris-
diction; 
(5) fulfils the functions described under para-
graph (2) only by agreement within the community 
of users of the virtual currency; 
(6) is not sovereign currency (also known as 
‘‘real currency’’, ‘‘real money’’, or ‘‘national cur-
rency’’), which is the coin and paper money of a 
country that is designated as its legal tender, cir-
culates, and is customarily used and accepted as a 
medium of exchange in the issuing country; and 
(7) is not e-money, which is a digital represen-
tation of sovereign currency used to electronically 
transfer value denominated in sovereign currency 
and is a digital transfer mechanism for sovereign 
currency (meaning that it electronically transfers 
value that has legal tender status). 
Æ 
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