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Nine CUNA-back bills approved by House Financial Services Committee

WASHINGTON, DC (March 26, 2015) — Nine regulatory relief bills supported by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) were approved by the House Financial Services Committee today.

“These bills are a step in the right direction toward removing barriers and allowing credit unions to efficiently serve their members,” said CUNA President and CEO Jim Nussle. “I look forward to seeing these pieces of legislation that reduce regulatory burden come the House floor for a vote. When credit unions boards and managers – not government bureaucrats – are making decisions about how to provide services, it’s the 102 million member-owners of the credit union benefit.”

The bills that passed the Committee today include:

  • H.R. 299, the Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act, introduced by Representatives Stivers and Beatty, corrects a drafting oversight in the Federal Home Loan Bank Actthat has resulted in a small number of privately insured credit unions being ineligible to join a Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB). This bill passed by a vote of 56-1.
  • H.R. 601, the Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act, introduced by Representatives Luetkemeyer and Sherman, would require financial institutions to send their customers privacy policy notifications only when the privacy policy is changed. This bill passed by a vote of 57-0.
  • H.R. 1195, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Advisory Board Act, introduced by Reps. Pittenger and Heck, codifies the small business advisory board, the credit union advisory council and the community bank advisory council at the Bureau; the Consumer Advisory Board is already codified in statute. This bill passed by a vote of 53-5.
  • H.R. 1265, the Bureau Advisory Commission Transparency Act, introduced by Representative Duffy, would, in effect, open Bureau advisory committee meetings to the public. This bill passed by a vote of 56-2.
  • H.R. 1259, the Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Community Act, introduced by Representative Barr and Hinojosa, directs the CFPB to establish an application process determining whether an area should be designated as a rural area if the CFPB has not designated it as one. This bill passed by a vote of 56-2.
  • H.R. 1480, the SAFE Confidentiality and Privilege Enhancement Act, introduced by Representatives Dold and Perlmutter, would allow state and federal regulatory officials with mortgage or financial services industry oversight authority to access any information provided to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry without the loss of confidentiality protections provided by federal and state laws.  This bill passed by a vote of 58-0.
  • H.R. 1408, the Mortgage Servicing Asset Capital Requirements Act, introduced by Representatives Perlmutter and Luetkemeyer, requires Federal banking agencies to conduct a study of the appropriate capital requirements for mortgage servicing assets for nonsystemic banking institutions. This bill passed by a vote of 49-9.
  • H.R. 1529, the Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act, introduced by Representatives Sherman and Luetkemeyer, would exempt mortgage loans made by financial institutions under $10 billion in assets and held in portfolio for three years from RESPA’s escrow requirements and would also exempt mortgage servicers that service fewer than 20,000 mortgages annually from the requirements of Section 6 of RESPA.  This bill passed by a vote of 48-10.
  • H.R. 685, Mortgage Choice Act, introduced by Representatives Huizenga and Meeks, would make an important modification to the Truth in Lending Act’s definition of “points and fees”.  This bill passed by a vote of 43-12.

About CUNA:

With its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) serves America’s credit unions, which are owned by more than 100 million consumer members. Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives providing affordable financial services to people from all walks of life. For more information about CUNA, visit www.cuna.org or follow @CUNA on Twitter. For more information about credit unions, visit www.aSmarterChoice.org and follow @asmarterchoice on Twitter. Visit the CUNA Press Room for a full listing of media mentions, press releases and resources to stay informed on current events within the credit union industry.

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