Title: Housing Opportunity Mortgage Expansion Act
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Housing Opportunity Mortgage Expansion Act
This bill amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to allow the continuation or restoration of Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) membership for captive insurance companies that became members prior to finalization of a specified Federal Housing Finance Agency rule ending their FHLB membership. (A captive insurance company underwrites insurance for its parent company and does not provide insurance to the public.)

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2361 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2361

 To amend the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to allow a captive insurance 
 company that was a member of a Federal Home Loan Bank before January 
    19, 2016, to continue or restore the membership of the captive 
    insurance company in the Federal Home Loan Bank, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 30, 2018

Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Scott) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to allow a captive insurance 
 company that was a member of a Federal Home Loan Bank before January 
    19, 2016, to continue or restore the membership of the captive 
    insurance company in the Federal Home Loan Bank, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Housing Opportunity Mortgage 
Expansion Act''.

SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN CAPTIVE INSURANCE COMPANIES.

    (a) In General.--The Federal Home Loan Bank Act (12 U.S.C. 1422 et 
seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 4 (12 U.S.C. 1424), by adding at the end the 
        following:
    ``(d) Membership Eligibility of Certain Captive Insurance 
Companies.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the terms `affiliate', `long-term', and 
                `residential mortgage loan' have the meanings given 
                those terms in section 1263.1 of title 12, Code of 
                Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of 
                enactment of this subsection; and
                    ``(B) the term `covered captive insurance company' 
                means a captive insurance company--
                            ``(i) the primary insurance business of 
                        which is, or was on January 19, 2016, the 
                        insurance of an affiliate;
                            ``(ii) that was admitted to membership of a 
                        Federal Home Loan Bank before January 19, 2016; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) that, due solely to the change in 
                        the treatment of captive insurance companies in 
                        the final rule of the Agency entitled `Members 
                        of Federal Home Loan Banks' (81 Fed. Reg. 3246 
                        (January 20, 2016))--
                                    ``(I) was required to terminate 
                                membership in the Federal Home Loan 
                                Bank; or
                                    ``(II) will have membership in the 
                                Federal Home Loan Bank terminated.
            ``(2) Continuation or restoration of membership.--A covered 
        captive insurance company may continue membership or have 
        membership restored in the same Federal Home Loan Bank 
        described in paragraph (1)(B)(ii) if--
                    ``(A) the Federal Home Loan Bank determines, 
                including based on information submitted by the covered 
                captive insurance company, that--
                            ``(i) the affiliate insured by the covered 
                        captive insurance company makes, owns, or 
                        acquires long-term residential mortgage loans; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the covered captive insurance 
                        company will comply with the membership 
                        eligibility requirements described in 
                        subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 1263.6 
                        of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, upon 
                        restoring membership; and
                    ``(B) the covered captive insurance company 
                continues to be owned, or upon restoration of 
                membership is owned and continues to be owned, 
                including direct ownership by a controlling entity or 
                indirect ownership through one or more holding 
                companies, by the same entity that owned the covered 
                captive insurance company on the date of enactment of 
                this subsection.
            ``(3) Benefits.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A covered captive insurance 
                company for which membership in a Federal Home Loan 
                Bank is continued or restored under paragraph (2) shall 
                have the same benefits of membership in the Federal 
                Home Loan Bank as the covered captive insurance company 
                had before January 19, 2016.
                    ``(B) Application of regulation.--Section 1263.6(e) 
                of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
                successor thereto, shall not apply to a covered captive 
                insurance company for which membership in a Federal 
                Home Loan Bank is continued or restored under paragraph 
                (2).
                    ``(C) Captives treated as insurance companies.--
                Except as otherwise specifically provided for in this 
                Act, for purposes of this Act and any regulations 
                promulgated under this Act, a covered captive insurance 
                company shall be treated as an insurance company.
            ``(4) Limitation on advances.--With respect to a covered 
        captive insurance company for which membership in a Federal 
        Home Loan Bank is continued or restored under paragraph (2) and 
        that is not an affiliate of a depository financial institution, 
        the Federal Home Loan Bank may not make any advances to the 
        covered captive insurance company in an amount that, in the 
        aggregate, is greater than 50 percent of the total assets of 
        the covered captive insurance company unless the Federal Home 
        Loan Bank has received from the affiliate of the covered 
        captive insurance company or the controlling entity described 
        in paragraph (2)(B) a guarantee of payment for any outstanding 
        advances, which shall be in addition to any collateral 
        otherwise required to secure the advances.''; and
            (2) in section 6(g) (12 U.S.C. 1426(g))--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' 
                and inserting ``paragraphs (2) and (3)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Exception for certain captive insurance companies.--A 
        covered captive insurance company (as defined in section 
        4(d)(1)) for which membership in a Federal Home Loan Bank is 
        restored under section 4(d)(2)--
                    ``(A) shall not be subject to the 5-year period 
                described in paragraph (1); and
                    ``(B) may acquire shares of the Federal Home Loan 
                Bank beginning after the membership is restored.''.
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