To amend the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to take prompt corrective action to resolve problems of bank holding companies.
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Oct 29, 2009
Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to instruct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to: (1) take prompt corrective action to resolve the problems of a bank holding company; (2) prescribe capital standards for bank holding companies, including a leverage limit and a risk-based capital requirement; (3) specify for each relevant capital measure the levels at which a bank holding company is well capitalized, undercapitalized, and significantly undercapitalized; and (4) specify the ratio of tangible equity to total assets at which a bank holding company is critically undercapitalized.
Prohibits a bank holding company, except under certain conditions, from making a capital distribution if it would be undercapitalized after making the distribution.
Requires the Board to monitor the condition and compliance of any undercapitalized bank holding company regarding its capital restoration plans, restrictions, and requirements.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
Requires an undercapitalized bank holding company to submit an acceptable capital restoration plan to the Board.
Prohibits such a company from obtaining acquisitions and new lines of business without prior Board approval.
Sets forth mandatory Board actions with respect to undercapitalized bank holding companies that fail to submit or implement capital restoration plans, including: (1) requiring recapitalization; (2) restricting asset growth and transactions with affiliates; (3) requiring dismissal of directors or senior executive officers; (4) ordering a new election of the board of directors; and (5) requiring divestiture of affiliates.
Requires prior written Board approval for senior executive compensation that exceeds the officer's average rate of compensation during a specified period preceding the undercapitalization of the bank holding company.
Specifies additional discretionary measures following Board determination that a bank holding company is either in an unsafe or unsound condition, or engaging in an unsafe or unsound practice.
Requires a petition in bankruptcy for a critically undercapitalized bank holding company.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jan 2, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze H.R.3968 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine H.R.3968 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine H.R.3968 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine H.R.3968 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.