[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2487 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2487

      To increase community development investments by depository 
                 institutions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 14, 2007

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To increase community development investments by depository 
                 institutions, 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 ``Depository Institution Community 
Development Investments Enhancement Act''.

SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

    (a) National Banks.--The first sentence of the paragraph designated 
as the ``Eleventh'' of section 5136 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States (12 U.S.C. 24) (as amended by section 305(a) of the 
Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006) is amended by 
striking ``promotes the public welfare by benefitting primarily'' and 
inserting ``is designed primarily to promote the public welfare, 
including the welfare of''.
    (b) State Member Banks.--The first sentence of the 23rd paragraph 
of section 9 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 338a) is amended by 
striking ``promotes the public welfare by benefiting primarily'' and 
inserting ``is designed primarily to promote the public welfare, 
including the welfare of''.

SEC. 3. INVESTMENTS BY FEDERAL SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS AUTHORIZED TO 
              PROMOTE THE PUBLIC WELFARE.

    Section 5(c) of the Home Owners' Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1464) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) by striking subparagraph (A); and
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C), as 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; and
            (2) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the following 
        new subparagraph:
                    ``(G) Direct investments to promote the public 
                welfare.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A Federal savings 
                        association may make investments, directly or 
                        indirectly, each of which is designed primarily 
                        to promote the public welfare, including the 
                        welfare of low- and moderate-income communities 
                        or families through the provision of housing, 
                        services, and jobs.
                            ``(ii) Direct investments or acquisition of 
                        interest in other companies.--Investments under 
                        clause (i) may be made directly or by 
                        purchasing interests in an entity primarily 
                        engaged in making such investments.
                            ``(iii) Prohibition on unlimited 
                        liability.--No investment may be made under 
                        this subparagraph which would subject a Federal 
                        savings association to unlimited liability to 
                        any person.
                            ``(iv) Single investment limitation to be 
                        established by director.--Subject to clauses 
                        (v) and (vi), the Director shall establish, by 
                        order or regulation, limits on--
                                    ``(I) the amount that any savings 
                                association may invest in any 1 
                                project; and
                                    ``(II) the aggregate amount of 
                                investment of any savings association 
                                under this subparagraph.
                            ``(v) Flexible aggregate investment 
                        limitation.--The aggregate amount of 
                        investments of any savings association under 
                        this subparagraph may not exceed an amount 
                        equal to the sum of 5 percent of the capital 
                        stock of the savings association actually paid 
                        in and unimpaired and 5 percent of the 
                        unimpaired surplus of the savings association, 
                        unless--
                                    ``(I) the Director determines that 
                                the savings association is adequately 
                                capitalized; and
                                    ``(II) the Director determines, by 
                                order, that the aggregate amount of 
                                investments in a higher amount than the 
                                limit under this clause would pose no 
                                significant risk to the affected 
                                Deposit Insurance Fund.
                            ``(vi) Maximum aggregate investment 
                        limitation.--Notwithstanding clause (v), the 
                        aggregate amount of investments of any savings 
                        association under this subparagraph may not 
                        exceed an amount equal to the sum of 15 percent 
                        of the capital stock of the savings association 
                        actually paid in and unimpaired and 15 percent 
                        of the unimpaired surplus of the savings 
                        association.
                            ``(vii) Investments not subject to other 
                        limitation on quality of investments.--No 
                        obligation that a Federal savings association 
                        acquires or retains under this subparagraph 
                        shall be taken into account for purposes of the 
                        limitation contained in section 28(d) of the 
                        Federal Deposit Insurance Act on the 
                        acquisition and retention of any corporate debt 
                        security not of investment grade.
                            ``(viii) Applicability of standards to each 
                        investment.--The standards and limitations of 
                        this subparagraph shall apply to each 
                        investment under this subparagraph made by a 
                        savings association directly and by its 
                        subsidiaries.''.
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