Financial CHOICE Act of 2016
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 693.
Financial CHOICE Act of 2016
This bill amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, among other Acts, to:
repeal the "Volcker Rule" (which restricts banks from making certain speculative investments);
with respect to winding down failing banks, eliminate the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's orderly liquidation authority and establish new provisions regarding financial institution bankruptcy; and
repeal the "Durbin Amendment" (which limits the fees that may be charged to retailers for debit card processing).
Certain banks may exempt themselves from specified regulatory standards if they maintain a certain ratio of capital to total assets and meet other specified requirements.
The bill removes the Financial Stability Oversight Council's authority to designate non-bank financial institutions and financial market utilities as "systemically important" (also known as "too big to fail"). Under current law, entities so designated are subject to additional regulatory restrictions. Designations made previously are retroactively repealed.
The bill also amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to:
restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by replacing its director with a bipartisan commission;
subject the commission to the congressional appropriations process, expanded judicial review, and additional congressional oversight; and
limit the commission's authority to take action against entities for "abusive" practices.
In addition, the bill:
modifies provisions related to the Securities and Exchange Commission's managerial structure and enforcement authority;
eliminates the Office of Financial Research within the Department of the Treasury; and
revises provisions related to capital formation, insurance regulation, civil penalties for securities laws violations, and community financial institutions.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House amended, Part I" stage on December 20, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 20, 2016: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 693.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) introduced it on September 9, 2016, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 5 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 9, 2016, 3653 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3551 days ago, on December 20, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers