[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 126 (Wednesday, August 5, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6385-S6386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Cotton, Mrs. 
        Capito, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Crapo):
  S. 1957. A bill to require the Attorney General to provide State 
officials with access to criminal history information with respect to 
certain financial service providers required to undergo State criminal 
background checks, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the State 
Licensing Efficiency Act with my colleagues Senators Lankford, Cotton, 
Capito, Leahy, Merkley, and Crapo.
  This bill provides a simple, commonsense change to the Secure and 
Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, SAFE Act, which became law 
in 2008 as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act.
  Overall, this bipartisan bill streamlines the licensing process for 
financial service providers, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  The SAFE Act required that state banking regulators use the 
electronic Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System, NMLS, to license or 
register mortgage loan originators.
  As the author of the SAFE Act, I have been pleased to see the NMLS' 
success over the past five years in facilitating mortgage loan 
originator licensing.

[[Page S6386]]

  The use of the NMLS for mortgage loan originators benefits state 
regulators, those seeking licenses to conduct financial services, and 
consumers.
  First, it increases efficiency and consolidates the licensing process 
and relevant information in one place for state regulators. This also 
allows for easier coordination between regulators.
  Second, it provides a uniform licensing process for mortgage loan 
originators seeking licenses.
  Finally, it allows consumers to verify the credentials of financial 
service providers to ensure that they are truly licensed or registered 
in the state in which they are conducting business.
  Today, over half of the States now use the NMLS for licensing 
entities other than mortgage loan originators, including for non-
depository financial service providers like check cashers, debt 
collectors, and money transmitters.
  Many States require Federal background checks as part of the 
licensing process for financial service providers.
  However, the SAFE Act only provided the Attorney General with the 
authority to share federal background check information with the NMLS 
for mortgage loan originators.
  The FBI does not have the authority to share this information with 
the NMLS for any other financial service provider.
  This means that while the rest of the licensing process for other 
financial service providers can be conducted through the NMLS, the 
background check cannot.
  I believe background checks are a critical component of State 
licensing and regulation. It does not make sense to allow for the 
licensing process to be delayed by barring certain background checks 
from being coordinated through the NMLS.
  The State Licensing Efficiency Act would provide the authorization 
needed for the Attorney General to allow the FBI to share background 
check information for non-depository financial service providers with 
state regulators through the NMLS, just as it currently does for 
mortgage loan originators.
  Let me be clear that this bill does not change any state licensing 
requirements or impact any state laws. States fully retain the ability 
to determine when they want to use the NMLS for other financial service 
providers.
  However, should states continue to expand their utilization of the 
NMLS, it makes sense to allow them to fully do so by ensuring federal 
background checks can be coordinated through the NMLS.
  Additionally, this bill will help financial service providers seeking 
licenses in multiple states.
  Instead of submitting federal background check requests for each 
State where they are seeking a license, they can submit one request via 
the NMLS for Federal background check information, which will be sent 
to the NMLS.
  States conducting the licensing process will then have access to the 
information through the NMLS.
  This should reduce the number of background check processing fees 
paid by financial service providers seeking licenses and reduce the 
processing period for the background checks so that financial service 
providers can get licensed more efficiently.
  The State Licensing Efficiency Act makes a reasonable change to allow 
state regulators who use the NMLS for licensing financial service 
providers to fully benefit from a streamlined, transparent, and more 
efficient process.
  Many regulatory associations support this bill including: the 
Conference of State Bank Supervisors, the American Association of 
Residential Mortgage Regulators, the Money Transmitter Regulators 
Association, the North American Collection Agency Regulatory 
Association, and the National Association of Consumer Credit 
Administrators.
  Additionally, associations representing a variety of financial 
service providers have voiced support, including: the Appraisal 
Institute, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the Money Services 
Round Table.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation and am 
hopeful that this Congress will move it forward.
                                 ______