The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a bill penned by Republican Idaho Senator Mike Crapo designed to ease bank rules that were enacted to prevent a relapse of the 2008 financial crisis that caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs and homes.
The Senate voted 67-31 for bipartisan legislation that would dial back portions of the law known as Dodd-Frank. The legislation would increase the threshold at which banks are considered so big and plugged into the financial grid that if one were to fail it would cause major havoc. Those banks are subject to stricter capital and planning requirements.
Lawmakers are intent on loosening the restraints on them in hopes that it will boost lending and the economy.
Crapo, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, emphasized that the Federal Reserve would still have the authority to apply tougher standards for banks with between $100 billion and $250 billion in assets.
Senator Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, added the new bill is not designed to be an overhaul, and if the new banking bill becomes law, 90 percent of Dodd-Frank would remain unchanged.
Other features of the bill would exempt certain banks and credit unions from requirements to report some mortgage loan data. That exempted data includes the age of a loan applicant, credit score, total loan costs, and interest rate.
In all, 16 Democrats and one independent senator voted with Republicans on the bill.
The House has already passed a more expansive rollback of Dodd-Frank.
Now, lawmakers will try to work out a compromise that both chambers can support. (AP)
