A six-month federal spending measure to keep the federal government running is expected to advance in the House this week without the ICBA-advocated temporary extension for full FDIC coverage of noninterest-bearing transaction accounts. The Senate is expected to pass the measure once it clears the House. Because Congress will approve only a handful of must-pass bills for the remainder of the session, ICBA and community bankers nationwide worked to include a TAG extension in the continuing resolution.

Congress’ inability to move the TAG extension via the spending bill will make it challenging to advance TAG coverage in the few remaining legislative days before the November elections. ICBA will continue working with lawmakers on this issue through the remainder of the year to procure an extension. ICBA is encouraging community bankers to continue to convey to their members of Congress their support for the temporary TAG extension. Call Congress Today. Write Congress Now.

ICBA expressed its strong support for legislation to exempt financial institutions and their employees from the new municipal advisor registration requirement. In a letter to members of the House Financial Services Committee, ICBA wrote that H.R. 2827 would significantly relieve regulatory burdens for the thousands of community banks and their employees that provide traditional banking services to municipalities.

“The new municipal advisor registration requirement, if interpreted broadly by the SEC, could force thousands of community banks and their employees to register as municipal advisors with the SEC and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and be examined by the SEC in order to continue providing traditional banking services to municipalities,” ICBA wrote. “An act as simple as a town treasurer phoning a community bank to inquire about CD rates could be enough to trigger registration.” Read ICBA’s Letter.

Federal regulators announced a new framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac designed to improve loan originations and underwriting for conventional loans sold or delivered beginning Jan. 1. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said that the new representation and warranty framework will help maintain liquidity in the mortgage market while protecting Fannie and Freddie from loans not underwritten to prescribed standards.

The framework is designed to clarify lenders’ repurchase exposure and liability on future deliveries. Under the plan, lenders will be relieved of certain repurchase obligations for loans that meet specific payment requirements, such as those with 36 months of consecutive on-time payments. The new model also will move the focus of quality-control reviews from the time a loan defaults up to approximately 30-120 days after loan purchase.

The National Retail Federation board of directors authorized the association to challenge a proposed $7.25 billion settlement between merchants and MasterCard, Visa and several large credit card issuers. The association said it opposes the settlement, which would allow merchants to begin imposing a surcharge, or “retailer checkout fee,” each time a customer chooses to pay with a credit card.

NRF, which is not party to the lawsuit, said it is exploring its legal options. Following the settlement in July, ICBA said that the losers in this latest battle over merchant interchange fees are consumers because merchants can now enjoy the benefits of accepting credit card payments while also charging consumers a retailer checkout fee. Read About Settlement on IBmag.org.

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