Reg relief bill heads to White House

American Banker reports that the House of Representatives has passed an identical version of the Senate's regulatory relief package (S 2155), the "Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act," which now goes to the White House for enactment. Among the features of the bill—

• Raises the asset threshold for "systemically important financial institutions" from $50 billion to $250 billion, with immediate relief for banks with $50 billion to $100 billion in assets
• Provides partial relief from the new HMDA disclosures added by the Dodd-Frank Act for small volume originators (fewer than 500 closed end/500 open-end loans for each of previous two years) except for institutions with "Needs to improve" or "Substantial non-compliance" CRA ratings
• Provides TILA escrow exception for banks with under $10 billion in assets originating 1000 or fewer first lien principal dwelling loans
• Raises eligibility for short-form Call Reports from $1 million to $5 billion in assets
• Reduces the impact of the Volcker Rule's restrictions on proprietary trading
• Provides qualified mortgage designation for most mortgages held in portfolio for banks with less than $10 billion in assets
• Provides for "tailored supervision" of larger banks
• Ends mandatory stress testing for banks with less than $100 billion in assets
• Provides relief from appraisal requirements for smaller mortgages
• Provides for longer exam cycles for community banks
• Provides for a simplified capital regime for highly capitalized community banks
• Reinstates permanently the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, which expired 12/31/14

As part of the agreement between the House and Senate, the Senate will now consider separate added relief proposals passed in the House. Comptroller of the Currency Joseph M. Otting issued a statement congratulating the House on passage of the bill.