[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 141 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               NATIONAL TREATMENT IN BANKING ACT OF 1994

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                               speech of

                          HON. ERIC FINGERHUT

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 30, 1994

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4926) to 
     require the Secretary of the Treasury to identify foreign 
     countries which may be denying national treatment to U.S. 
     banking organizations and to assess whether any such denial 
     may be having a significant adverse effect on such 
     organizations, and to require Federal banking agencies to 
     take such assessments into account in considering 
     applications by foreign banks under the International Banking 
     Act of 1978 and the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956:

  Mr. FINGERHUT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support for the 
National Treatment in Banking Act which is designed to help our 
government open foreign markets for U.S. banking organizations.
  First, let me commend my colleagues on the Banking Committee, 
Subcommittee Chairman Barney Frank and Full Committee Chairman 
Gonzalez, for their hard work on this important legislation.
  Briefly, Mr. Speaker, the problem we are trying to address with this 
legislation is that some foreign countries do not provide U.S. banks 
with the same treatment as they provide to their own domestic banks. 
This is referred to as ``national treatment.'' This legislation directs 
the Secretary of the Treasury to identify foreign countries where U.S. 
banking organizations are adversely affected by a denial of national 
treatment. The bill then amends various banking statutes to require the 
Federal banking agencies to take into account the Treasury's evaluation 
of a foreign bank's home country when they act on the foreign bank's 
application to enter or to expand activities in the U.S. market.
  Ultimately, this bill will create pressure that will help open 
foreign markets for U.S. banks.
  Since the United States is generally considered to provide national 
treatment to foreign banks, it is only reasonable to expect that U.S. 
banks seeking to operate in other nations receive the same treatment.
  I join my colleagues from the Banking Committee in supporting this 
bill.

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