[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1816 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1816

To provide relief to community banks, to promote access to capital for 
                community banks, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 21, 2015

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide relief to community banks, to promote access to capital for 
                community banks, 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 ``Community Bank Access to Capital Act 
of 2015''.

SEC. 2. BASEL III EXEMPTION FOR COMMUNITY BANKS.

    (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``community bank'' means 
an insured depository institution, as defined in section 3(c) of the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c)), with consolidated 
assets of not greater than $50,000,000,000.
    (b) Promulgation of Regulations.--Not later than 3 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller of the Currency, the 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation shall each promulgate a regulation 
exempting community banks from any regulation issued to implement 
``Basel III: A global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and 
banking systems'', as issued by the Basel Committee on Banking 
Supervision on December 16, 2010 and revised on June 1, 2011.
    (c) Capital Requirements Adjustment.--The Comptroller of the 
Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall make the revisions to 
capital requirements as the Comptroller, the Board, and the 
Corporation, respectively, determine are necessary or appropriate in 
light of the regulations required under subsection (b).

SEC. 3. INTERNAL CONTROL ATTESTATION REQUIREMENT EXEMPTIONS.

    Section 404(c) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 
7262(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``that is neither'' and inserting the 
        following: ``that--
            ``(1) is neither'';
            (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
        or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) is an insured depository institution or a depository 
        institution holding company (as those terms are defined in 
        section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 
        1813)), with consolidated assets of not greater than 
        $1,000,000,000.''.

SEC. 4. REGULATION D CHANGES.

    The Securities and Exchange Commission--
            (1) may not adjust--
                    (A) the $1,000,000 net worth threshold under 
                section 230.501(a)(5) of title 17, Code of Federal 
                Regulations, or any successor thereto; or
                    (B) the $200,000 and $300,000 income thresholds 
                under section 230.501(a)(6) of title 17, Code of 
                Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto; and
            (2) shall, not later than 3 months after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, revise section 230.506(b)(2)(i) of title 
        17, Code of Federal Regulations, to change the limitation on 
        the number of purchasers contained in the section from 35 to 
        70.

SEC. 5. SHAREHOLDER THRESHOLD TREATMENT OF SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING 
              COMPANIES.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the second paragraph (80) (relating to 
        funding portals) as paragraph (81); and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(82) Bank holding company.--The term `bank holding 
        company' has the meaning given the term in section 2(a) of the 
        Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841(a)).
            ``(83) Savings and loan holding company.--The term `savings 
        and loan holding company' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 10(a) of the Home Owners' Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 
        1467a(a)).''.
    (b) Amendments to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934.--Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
78l(g)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ``or a bank holding 
        company, as such term is defined in section 2 of the Bank 
        Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841)'' and inserting 
        ``, a bank holding company, or a savings and loan holding 
        company''; and
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ``or a bank holding 
        company, as such term is defined in section 2 of the Bank 
        Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841), 1,200 persons 
        persons'' and inserting ``, a bank holding company, or a 
        savings and loan holding company, 1,200 persons''.
    (c) Amendment to Section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934.--Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
78o(d)) is amended, in the third sentence, by striking ``or a bank 
holding company, as such term is defined in section 2 of the Bank 
Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841), 1,200 persons persons'' 
and inserting ``, a bank holding company, or a savings and loan holding 
company, 1,200 persons''.
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