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Federal Legislative and Regulatory Issues
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Regulatory
Exam Relief Bill Legislation was introduced on Nov. 17, 2011 (H.R. 3461), to address several concerns from bankers about a lack of transparency and consistency in the examination process. Georgia Reps. Lynn Westmoreland and David Scott are cosponsors of the bill, which covers concerns over timely examination reports, clear exam standards and exam consistency and quality. More specifically, regulators would be required to provide a final exam report within 60 days of the exit interview and establish a new independent ombudsman to investigate complaints about exams, review exam procedures to ensure written policies are being followed and to conduct quality assurance for all exams. Further, H.R. 3461 provides for more precise, consistent and understandable classification standards for commercial loans. Examples include a commercial loan could not be placed in nonaccrual status solely because the collateral has deteriorated in value AND a new appraisal would not be required on a commercial loan unless an advance of new funds is involved. However, a commercial loan with deterioration in collateral must be classified in proportion to the deficiency relating to the decline in collateral. A copy of the bill may be viewed here and a thorough summary from ABA here. A companion bill with similar provisions was introduced in the Senate March 6, 2012 (S. 2160).
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GBA's professional staff represents the membership at the both the state and federal levels. Contact any of them with questions about issues:
Joe Brannen |
