Rep. Fitzgeralds Merger Agreement Approvals Clarity and Predictability Act Passes Financial Services Committee
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Scott Fitzgerald’s (WI-05) Merger Agreement Approvals Clarity and Predictability Act, legislation that addresses political intrusion into the regulatory approval process for bank mergers and acquisitions, passed the House Financial Services Committee today. Specifically, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a thorough review of how federal regulators use commitments and conditions when approving mergers of insured depository institutions. It also directs GAO to determine whether regulators rely on extrastatutory considerations, such as policy preferences or non-statutory goals, when conditioning merger approvals.
BACKGROUND: This bill, consistent with executive orders prohibiting debanking and political influence in banking regulation, directs the Comptroller General to review the prudential regulators’ use of conditions and commitments in insured depository institution merger approvals. The study must determine whether such conditions were imposed in accordance with statutory requirements or were influenced by other considerations, including political objectives or debanking-related factors. The Comptroller General is required to submit a report to Congress within one year detailing all the findings and determinations made during the study. While prudential regulators possess limited discretionary authority to impose conditions or commitments, that discretion must be exercised within the bounds of statutory requirements and without political bias.
Read the bill text here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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