Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, February 14, 2018 -

This week, the House of Representatives passed two strongly bipartisan bills from the Financial Services Committee.

“These bills will help cut at least some of the red tape that places such a disproportionate burden on Main Street businesses and financial entities and limits consumer access to credit. These bills are practical, they are strongly bipartisan, and they are needed,” said Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling. “I applaud the sponsors of each of these commonsense regulatory relief bills for their hard work in bringing these bills to the floor.”

H.R. 3978 by Representative French Hill (R-AR) is a package of 5 bills, all of which passed the Committee with support of at least three-fourths of the Committee Members. Collectively, this legislative package will provide important regulatory relief that reduces burdens for financial institutions and strengthens and makes the capital markets more attractive, competitive, and efficient.

• Title I: H.R. 3978 – TRID Improvement Act (Rep. French Hill) – Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) to require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to allow for the calculation of the discounted rate title insurance companies may provide to consumers when they purchase a lenders and owners title insurance policy simultaneously.
• Title II: H.R. 3948 – Protection of Source Code Act (Rep. Sean Duffy) – Amends the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to first issue a subpoena before it compels a person to produce or furnish to the SEC algorithmic trading source code or similar intellectual property.
• Title III: H.R. 1645 – Fostering Innovation Act of 2017 (Rep. Kyrsten Sinema) – Amends Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) to extend the exemption available to emerging growth companies (EGCs), giving them more time to financially sustain the legal, accounting, and compliance costs associated with full compliance.
• Title IV: H.R. 4546 – National Securities Exchange Regulatory Parity Act (Rep. Ed Royce) – Modernizes Section 18 of the Securities Act of 1933 to eliminate references to specific national securities exchanges and to clarify that the state “blue sky” exemption shall be available for all securities that qualify for trading in the national market system.
• Title V: H.R. 2948 – To amend the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 to provide a temporary license for loan originators transitioning between employers, and for other purposes. (Rep. Steve Stivers) – Amends the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 to provide temporary loan-origination authority for registered loan originators: (1) moving from a financial institution to a state-licensed non-bank originator, or (2) moving interstate to a state-licensed loan originator in another state.

The bill passed 271-145.

H.R. 3299, the Protecting Consumers’ Access to Credit Act of 2017 clarifies current law to ensure innovative marketplace lending remains in-tact while simultaneously providing safe consumer protections. Authored by Financial Services Committee Vice-Chair Patrick McHenry, H.R. 3299 ensures that the lawful interest rate on a loan originated by a bank remains valid if the loan is sold, assigned, or transferred to a non-bank third party. The bill was included in the House-passed Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10).

The bill passed 245-171.