If Dems supporting the #BankLobbyistAct are looking for an off ramp to change their mind, they have all they need to jump ship between the managers amdt (new text) and the CBO score. Here are a few new provisions added last night. 1/
Big Q: is Sec. 310 anything more than a gift to Equifax? We WANT alt. data considered in credit scores but 1 of the only alternative models is Equifax's Vantage Score. There's NO accountability for breach affecting 148 million ppl in this bill. Equifax doesn't need a new gift. 2/
Also added: section creating new loopholes for risky commercial real estate loans, a key driver of community bank failures ~2008. Supporters say this will make credit more available, but commercial lending is already taking off w/o it. No need for this. ourfinancialsecurity.org/wp-content/upl… 3/
Bill supporters conceded we were right about 2 main critiques of original version by trying to fix: 1. that huge foreign banks reaped the benefits of this bill and 2. that exempting banks from the requirement they collect data under HMDA (used to spot redlining) was a mistake. 4/
On 1: there's a new "clarification" that foreign banks aren't helped. But it still doesn't require regulators to retain the enhanced oversight for U.S. operations of foreign banks at $50-250B. It doesn't do what supporters say it does, other than give them political cover. 5/
If Senators were serious about excluding foreign banks from the benefits of this bill, they would support @SenSherrodBrown’s amendment #2080. And they would vote NO on final passage of the bill if the amendment doesn’t receive a vote. 6/
On 2: The exemption from HMDA data collection that CFPB uses to spot discriminatory lending practices is still there for most banks, with an insulting new exception. It's made to look like bill authors fixed this problem but it's unlikely to add many, or any, banks back in. 7/
The bill currently exempts 85% of banks from the req. Banks won't get exemption if they get a bad Community Reinvestment Act rating, but that only happens to a tiny fraction of banks. And it has to happen TWICE which takes 6 years! New text makes little difference. Still bad. 8/
If Senators were serious about protecting communities of color from discriminatory lending, they would support @SenCortezMasto’s amendment #2157. And they would vote NO on final passage of the bill if the amendment doesn’t receive a vote. 9/
Worth noting what has NOT changed about the bill. What @SenWarren says is biggest threat of all is still there. Biggest banks - yes, banks ABOVE $250 billion - get new way to challenge federal oversight: the req. that the Fed tailor rules to them. 10/
The bill still exempts banks with $50-250 billion in assets from certain increased safeguards, like stronger risk management, liquidity requirements, & stress testing. What this jargon means: more stability, less chance banks would cause an econ catastrophe if they failed. 11/
CBO said earlier this week this bill increases the likelihood of future taxpayer-funded bailouts. Changes weren't made through the managers amendment that would affect that estimation. 12/
If Democrats want to pass a community bank bill, they should pass a community bank bill. This is (still) not it. It's not too late to change their minds and stop this train wreck for the good of our economy. 13/13
PS the statement I drafted for any Senators wanting to jump ship still stands! No pride of ownership here, just change some words around and get your name off of this bill.
