Senate Hearing on Banking Regulations and Economic Growth

• •The hearing took place on June 15, 2017, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
• •The committee examined the impact of post-crisis regulations on midsize, regional, and large financial institutions.
• •Chairman Crapo stated that current asset-based thresholds for regulations do not always reflect the actual systemic risk of a bank.
• •The committee discussed the $10 billion asset threshold for company-run stress tests, with some participants suggesting it is too low.
• •The CCAR (Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review) process was identified as a costly and time-consuming burden for noncomplex regional banks.
• •The Volcker rule was cited as being overly complicated to implement and difficult to comply with.
• •The committee is considering bipartisan legislation to improve the bank regulatory framework.
• •Witnesses included representatives from Zions Bancorporation, The Clearing House Association, South State Corporation, and Cornell University.

The hearing explores potential legislative changes to banking regulations that could alter compliance costs and operational requirements for midsize and regional banks, which directly impacts how these institutions lend to consumers and businesses.

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.