[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2897 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2897

    To amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to return a sense of 
fairness and accountability to the deposit insurance premium assessment 
                    process, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 16, 2009

 Mr. Gutierrez (for himself, Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. Capuano, Ms. Moore of 
 Wisconsin, and Ms. Lee of California) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to return a sense of 
fairness and accountability to the deposit insurance premium assessment 
                    process, 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 ``Bank Accountability and Risk 
Assessment Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The unprecedented Government intervention into the 
        financial markets in 2008 was required by a threat to our 
        Nation's economy from large, complex, and deeply inter-
        connected financial institutions, many of which were on the 
        verge of failing.
            (2) The necessary Government intervention in the financial 
        system placed hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars at risk.
            (3) Many of the financial institutions involved in the 
        crisis were so large and their dealings so intertwined that 
        their failures could have led to the collapse of America's 
        financial system.
            (4) The scale of the banking system crisis put severe 
        strains on the Deposit Insurance Fund of the Federal Deposit 
        Insurance Corporation.
            (5) The depository institutions that present a systemic 
        risk to the financial system would overwhelm the resources of 
        the Deposit Insurance Fund if one or more of them were to fail.
            (6) Without a substantial increase in the Deposit Insurance 
        Fund, depository institutions that are deemed ``too-big-to-
        fail'' will remain potential threats to the health of the 
        entire financial system and possibly place U.S. taxpayer 
        dollars at risk.
            (7) It is inherently unfair to require the financial 
        institutions that are too small to be systemic risks, or that 
        do not become involved in the most risky, questionable, and 
        harmful financial practices, to share the financial 
        responsibility for the failures of these ``too-big-to-fail'' 
        institutions.
            (8) Large depository institutions whose failure may 
        threaten the safety and soundness of the entire financial 
        system should be assessed premiums based on their potential 
        risk to the system, not just on the deposits they hold.
            (9) The Deposit Insurance Fund should be insulated against 
        potential financial crises, the financial institutions that 
        cause a crisis in the future must be held accountable, and U.S. 
        taxpayer dollars should not be placed at risk.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to maintain the safety and 
soundness of the U.S. banking system by ensuring that the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporations' Deposit Insurance Fund is adequately 
capitalized to respond to the failures of large depository institutions 
that would otherwise threaten our financial system and to return a 
sense of fairness and accountability to the deposit insurance premium 
assessment process.

SEC. 3. ACCOUNTING FOR ACTUAL RISK TO THE DEPOSIT INSURANCE FUND.

    (a) Section 7(b)(1)(C) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act is 
amended to read as follows:
                    ``(C) `Risk-based assessment system' defined.--For 
                purposes of this paragraph, the term `risk-based 
                assessment system' means a system for calculating a 
                depository institution's assessment based on--
                            ``(i) the probability that the Deposit 
                        Insurance Fund will incur a loss with respect 
                        to the institution;
                            ``(ii) the likely amount of any such loss;
                            ``(iii) the risks to the Deposit Insurance 
                        Fund attributable to such depository 
                        institution and its affiliates, taking into 
                        account--
                                    ``(I) the amount, different 
                                categories, and concentrations of 
                                assets of the insured depository 
                                institution and its affiliates, 
                                including both on-balance sheet and 
                                off-balance sheet assets;
                                    ``(II) the amount, different 
                                categories, and concentrations of 
                                liabilities, both insured and 
                                uninsured, contingent and 
                                noncontingent, including both on-
                                balance sheet and off-balance sheet 
                                liabilities, of the insured depository 
                                institution and its affiliates; and
                                    ``(III) any other factors the 
                                Corporation determines are relevant to 
                                assessing the risks; and
                            ``(iv) the revenue needs of the Deposit 
                        Insurance Fund.''.
    (b) Section 7(b)(1) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act is further 
amended by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (F) 
and (G), respectively, and by adding the following new subparagraph 
(E):
                    ``(E) Systemic risk premium.--
                            ``(i) In addition to any annual assessment 
                        imposed under paragraph (2) or special 
                        assessment imposed under paragraph (5), the 
                        Board of Directors shall impose a systemic risk 
                        assessment, at least annually, on all 
                        systemically important depository institutions. 
                        For purposes of the subparagraph, `systemically 
                        important depository institution' shall mean an 
                        insured depository institution that is 
                        designated as systemically important by the 
                        Corporation, in consultation with the Secretary 
                        of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of 
                        the Federal Reserve System, or that is an 
                        affiliate of a depository institution holding 
                        company or, in the case of an industrial loan 
                        company, controlling parent company designated 
                        as systemically important by the Corporation, 
                        in consultation with the Secretary of the 
                        Treasury and the Board of Governors of the 
                        Federal Reserve System.
                            ``(ii) In designating an insured depository 
                        institution, depository institution holding 
                        company, or controlling parent company as 
                        systemically important, the Corporation shall 
                        take into account:
                                    ``(I) the amount, different 
                                categories, and concentrations of 
                                assets of the entity and its 
                                affiliates, including both on-balance 
                                sheet and off-balance sheet assets;
                                    ``(II) the amount, different 
                                categories, and concentrations of 
                                liabilities, both insured and 
                                uninsured, contingent and 
                                noncontingent, including both on-
                                balance sheet and off-balance sheet 
                                liabilities, of the entity and its 
                                affiliates;
                                    ``(III) the activities of the 
                                entity and its affiliates;
                                    ``(IV) the relevant market share of 
                                the entity and its affiliates; and
                                    ``(V) the potential adverse effects 
                                on economic conditions and financial 
                                stability, in the event any of the 
                                grounds in (c)(5) were to exist with 
                                respect to such entity.''.
    (c) Section 7(b)(2) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act is amended 
by striking paragraph (D) and by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
subparagraph (D).

SEC. 4. CREATING A RISK-FOCUSED ASSESSMENT BASE.

    Section 7(b)(2), as amended, is further amended by adding the 
following new subparagraph (C):
                    ``(C) Assessment base.--The assessment of any 
                insured depository institution imposed under this 
                subsection shall be an amount equal to the product of--
                            ``(i) an assessment rate established by the 
                        Corporation; and
                            ``(ii) the amount of the insured depository 
                        institution's average total assets during the 
                        assessment period minus the amount of the 
                        insured depository institution's average 
                        tangible equity during the assesssment 
                        period.''.
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