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The House is scheduled to vote next week to exempt community banks from the Volcker Rule, a key post-crisis regulation meant to prevent banks from speculating for profit with deposits insured by the federal government, the Washington Examiner reported. The bill, authored by Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) would match one of the provisions in the Senate-passed bipartisan banking bill, and go a little bit beyond it. House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is holding out for negotiations with senators over which of the two chambers’ bills should be sent to President Trump. Hensarling wants to add more bipartisan House-passed bills to the mix, while senators, worried that they could lose the 17 Democratic “yes” votes with any more provisions, have pushed for the House to simply approve their bill. Read more. 

Join thought leaders from academia and the bench, representatives from U.S. and European governmental agencies and private organizations on April 19 for a symposium to examine the policies, strategies & proposals erected in the 10 years since the Financial Crisis. Click here for more information and to register. 

Banks and credit unions desperate for regulatory relief are ramping up pressure on House Republicans to quickly pass a bill easing Dodd-Frank banking rules, The Hill reported. The Senate earlier this month cleared a bipartisan bill that would exempt dozens of lenders from stricter federal oversight, sending it to the House. The measure is a longtime goal of Republicans and the financial services industry. But Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is keeping the bill off the House floor until senators agree to add on a slew of banking reforms that have passed the lower chamber. Senators are resisting any changes to the bill, arguing that their bill is the result of hard-fought negotiations and the best chance for sweeping bipartisan reform of Dodd-Frank.

House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) convened a press briefing with two other lawmakers yesterday to make clear that the House won’t rubber stamp the Senate bill, Bloomberg News reported. “It is a little presumptuous or naïve that the House would not expect to enter into a negotiation with the Senate,” Hensarling said. “Some seem to be under the impression that we are going to vote on their bill.” The Senate’s legislation, crafted by Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), mostly provides relief for smaller banks by freeing them from a number of constraints imposed on lenders deemed to-big-to-fail. In June, the House passed much more ambitious legislation sponsored by Hensarling dubbed the Financial Choice Act.