RELIEVE Act

Bill: 113-s-2698
Sponsor: Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]
Introduced: 2014-07-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Bankruptcy
Federal Reserve System
Financial services and investments
Housing finance and home ownership
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Lawyers and legal services
Rural conditions and development

Summary:
action_date: 2014-07-30
text: 
Regulatory Easement for Lending Institutions that Enable a Vibrant Economy Act of 2014 or the RELIEVE Act - Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to publish in the Federal Register proposed revisions to the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors that apply the policy (unless exclusion is warranted for supervisory purposes) to bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies with pro forma consolidated assets of less than $1 billion, and which:
 
 
are not engaged in significant nonbanking activities either directly or through a nonbank subsidiary,
 
do not conduct significant off-balance sheet activities (including securitization and asset management or administration) either directly or through a nonbank subsidiary, and
 
do not have a material amount of debt or equity securities outstanding (other than trust preferred securities) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
 
 
Amends the Truth in Lending Act to limit to a city or town with under 50,000 inhabitants the meaning of &quot;rural&quot; with respect to rural lenders which may presume that the applicant for a residential mortgage loan has a reasonable ability to repay the loan and all applicable taxes, insurance, and assessments.
 
Amends the Federal Credit Union Act regarding insured amounts payable in connection with a bankrupt state-chartered credit union for which the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board is the liquidating agent. 
 
Revises requirements relating to the limitation to the standard maximum share insurance amount ($250,000) for the net amount of share insurance payable to any member at an insured credit union in the event of such a bankruptcy. Applies the limitation also to any person with funds lawfully held in a member account.
 
Requires the Board to provide pass-through share insurance paid by certain lawyers administering deposits or shares of any interest on a lawyer's trust account (IOLTA), or paid by the escrow agent administering other similar escrow accounts.
 
Defines &quot;IOLTA&quot; as a system in which lawyers place certain client funds in interest-bearing or dividend-bearing accounts, with the interest or dividends then used to fund programs such as legal service organizations providing services to clients in need.
 
Treats IOLTAs as escrow accounts for share insurance purposes, and considers them as member accounts if the administering attorney or escrow agent is a member of the insured credit union in which the funds are held.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-09-16
text: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held.
action_date: 2014-07-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2014-07-30
text: Introduced in Senate