Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents
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This Act may be cited as the . Financial CHOICE Act of 2016 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Title I—Regulatory Relief for Strongly Capitalized, Well Managed Banking Organizations Sec. 101. Capital election. Sec. 102. Regulatory relief. Sec. 103. Contingent capital study. Sec. 104. Study on altering the current prompt corrective action rules. Sec. 105. Definitions. Title II—Ending Too Big to Fail and Bank Bailouts Subtitle A—Reform of the Financial Stability Act of 2010 Sec. 211.
Repeal and modification of provisions of the Financial Stability Act of 2010. Subtitle B—Repeal of the Orderly Liquidation Authority Sec. 221. Repeal of the orderly liquidation authority. Subtitle C—Financial Institution Bankruptcy Sec. 231. General provisions relating to covered financial corporations. Sec. 232. Liquidation, reorganization, or recapitalization of a covered financial corporation. Sec. 233. Amendments to title 28, United States Code. Subtitle D—Ending Government Guarantees Sec. 241.
Repeal of obligation guarantee program. Sec. 242. Repeal of systemic risk determination in resolutions. Sec. 243. Restrictions on use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund. Subtitle E—Eliminating Financial Market Utility Designations Sec. 251. Repeal of title VIII. Title III—Empowering Americans to Achieve Financial Independence Subtitle A—Separation of Powers and Liberty Enhancements Sec. 311. Consumer Financial Opportunity Commission. Sec. 312. Bringing the Commission into the regular appropriations process.
Sec. 313. Consumer Financial Opportunity Commission Inspector General Reform. Sec. 314. Private parties authorized to compel the Commission to seek sanctions by filing civil actions; Adjudications deemed actions. Sec. 315. Civil investigative demands to be appealed to courts. Sec. 316. Commission dual mandate and economic analysis. Sec. 317. No deference to Commission interpretation. Subtitle B—Administrative Enhancements Sec. 321. Commission Advisory Boards. Sec. 322. Advisory opinions.
Sec. 323. Reform of Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund. Sec. 324. Commission research paper transparency. Sec. 325. Commission pay fairness. Sec. 326. Separation of market monitoring functions and supervisory functions. Sec. 327. Requirement to verify information in the complaint database before it may be released to the general public. Sec. 328. Commission supervision limited to banks, thrifts, and credit unions with greater than $50 billion in assets. Sec. 329. Transfer of old OTS building from OCC to GSA.
Subtitle C—Policy Enhancements Sec. 331. Consumer right to financial privacy. Sec. 332. Repeal of Council authority to set aside Bureau rules and requirement of safety and soundness considerations when issuing rules. Sec. 333. State and tribal payday loan regulation 5-year exemption. Sec. 334. Reforming indirect auto financing guidance. Sec. 335. Prohibition of Government price controls for payment card transactions. Sec. 336. Annual studies on ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and reforming the housing finance system.
Sec. 337. Removal of abusive authority. Sec. 338. Repeal of authority to restrict arbitration. Title IV—Capital Markets Improvements Subtitle A—SEC Reform, Restructuring, and Accountability Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 402. Report on unobligated appropriations. Sec. 403. SEC Reserve Fund abolished. Sec. 404. Fees to offset appropriations. Sec. 405. Implementation of recommendations. Sec. 406. Office of Credit Ratings to report to the Division of Trading and Markets.
Sec. 407. Office of Municipal Securities to report to the Division of Trading and Markets. Sec. 408. Independence of Commission Ombudsman. Sec. 409. Coordination with the Investor Advisory Committee. Sec. 410. Duties of Investor Advocate. Sec. 411. Internal risk controls. Sec. 412. Applicability of Notice and Comment Requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act to Guidance Voted on by the Commission. Sec. 413. Process for closing investigations. Sec. 414. Enforcement Ombudsman.
Sec. 415. Process to ensure enforcement actions are within authority of Commission. Sec. 416. Process to permit recipient of Wells notification to appear before Commission staff in-person. Sec. 417. Publication of enforcement manual. Sec. 418. Private parties authorized to compel the Securities and Exchange Commission to seek sanctions by filing civil actions. Sec. 419. Certain findings required to approve civil money penalties against issuers. Sec. 420. Repeal of authority of the Commission to prohibit persons from serving as officers or directors.
Sec. 421. Subpoena duration and renewal. Sec. 422. Elimination of automatic disqualifications. Sec. 423. Confidentiality of records obtained from foreign securities and law enforcement authorities. Sec. 424. Clarification of authority to impose sanctions on persons associated with a broker or dealer. Sec. 425. Congressional access to information held by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Sec. 426. Repeal of requirement for Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to use certain funds for merit scholarship program.
Sec. 427. Reallocation of fines for violations of rules of municipal securities rulemaking board. Subtitle B—Eliminating Excessive Government Intrusion in the Capital Markets Sec. 441. Repeal of Department of Labor fiduciary rule and requirements prior to rulemaking relating to standards of conduct for brokers and dealers. Sec. 442. Exemption from risk retention requirements for nonresidential mortgage. Sec. 443. Frequency of shareholder approval of executive compensation. Sec. 444.
Requirement for municipal advisor for issuers of municipal securities. Sec. 445. Small issuer exemption from internal control evaluation. Sec. 446. Exemptive authority for certain provisions relating to registration of nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. Sec. 447. Restriction on recovery of erroneously awarded compensation. Sec. 448. Risk-Based Examinations of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations. Sec. 449. Repeals. Sec. 450. Exemption of and reporting by private equity fund advisers.
Sec. 451. Records and reports of private funds. Sec. 452. Definition of accredited investor. Sec. 453. Repeal of certain provisions requiring a study and report to Congress. Sec. 454. Technical correction. Sec. 455. Repeal. Subtitle C—Commodity Futures Trading Commission Reforms Sec. 461. Division directors. Sec. 462. Procedures governing actions taken by commission staff. Sec. 463. Strategic technology plan. Sec. 464. Internal risk controls. Sec. 465. Subpoena duration and renewal.
Sec. 466. Applicability of notice and comment requirements of the administrative procedure act to guidance voted on by the commission. Sec. 467. Judicial review of commission rules. Sec. 468. Cross-border regulation of derivatives transactions. Subtitle D—Harmonization of Derivatives Rules Sec. 471. Agency review and harmonization of rules relating to the regulation of over-the-counter swaps markets. Title V—Improving Insurance Coordination through an Independent Advocate Sec. 501.
Repeal of the Federal Insurance Office; Creation of the Office of the Independent Insurance Advocate. Sec. 502. Treatment of covered agreements. Title VI—Demanding Accountability from Financial Regulators and Devolving Power Away from Washington Subtitle A—Cost-Benefit Analyses Sec. 611. Definitions. Sec. 612. Required regulatory analysis. Sec. 613. Rule of construction. Sec. 614. Public availability of data and regulatory analysis. Sec. 615. Five-year regulatory impact analysis.
Sec. 616. Retrospective review of existing rules. Sec. 617. Judicial review. Sec. 618. Chief Economists Council. Sec. 619. Conforming amendments. Sec. 620. Other regulatory entities. Sec. 621. Avoidance of duplicative or unnecessary analyses. Subtitle B—Congressional Review of Federal Financial Agency Rulemaking Sec. 631. Congressional review. Sec. 632. Congressional approval procedure for major rules. Sec. 633. Congressional disapproval procedure for nonmajor rules. Sec. 634.
Definitions. Sec. 635. Judicial review. Sec. 636. Effective date of certain rules. Sec. 637. Budgetary effects of rules subject to section 632 of the Financial CHOICE Act of 2016. Subtitle C—Judicial Review of Agency Actions Sec. 641. Scope of judicial review of agency actions. Subtitle D—Leadership of Financial Regulators Sec. 651. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Sec. 652. Federal Housing Finance Agency. Sec. 653. National Credit Union Administration. Sec. 654. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Subtitle E—Congressional Oversight of Appropriations Sec. 661. Bringing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation into the regular appropriations process. Sec. 662. Bringing the Federal Housing Finance Agency into the regular appropriations process. Sec. 663. Bringing the National Credit Union Administration into the regular appropriations process. Sec. 664. Bringing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency into the regular appropriations process. Sec. 665. Bringing the non-monetary policy related functions of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System into the regular appropriations process.
Subtitle F—International Processes Sec. 671. Requirements for international processes. Title VII—Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization Sec. 701. Requirements for policy rules of the Federal Open Market Committee. Sec. 702. Federal Open Market Committee blackout period. Sec. 703. Membership of Federal Open Market Committee. Sec. 704. Frequency of testimony of the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to Congress. Sec. 705. Vice Chairman for Supervision report requirement.
Sec. 706. Salaries, financial disclosures, and office staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Sec. 707. Amendments to powers of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Sec. 708. Interest rates on balances maintained at a Federal Reserve bank by depository institutions established by Federal Open Market Committee. Sec. 709. Audit reform and transparency for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Sec. 710. Establishment of a Centennial Monetary Commission.
Sec. 711. Public transcripts of FOMC meetings. Title VIII—Demanding Accountability from Wall Street Subtitle A—SEC Penalties Modernization Sec. 801. Enhancement of civil penalties for securities laws violations. Sec. 802. Updated civil money penalties of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Sec. 803. Updated civil money penalty for controlling persons in connection with insider trading. Sec. 804. Update of certain other penalties. Sec. 805. Monetary sanctions to be used for the relief of victims.
Sec. 806. GAO report on use of civil money penalty authority by Commission. Subtitle B—FIRREA Penalties Modernization Sec. 811. Increase of civil and criminal penalties originally established in the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. Title IX—Repeal of the Volcker Rule and Other Provisions Sec. 901. Repeals. Title X—Unleashing Opportunities for Small Businesses, Innovators, and Job Creators by Facilitating Capital Formation Subtitle A—Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Sec. 1001.
Registration exemption for merger and acquisition brokers. Sec. 1002. Effective date. Subtitle B—Encouraging Employee Ownership Sec. 1006. Increased threshold for disclosures relating to compensatory benefit plans. Subtitle C—Small Company Disclosure Simplification Sec. 1011. Exemption from XBRL requirements for emerging growth companies and other smaller companies. Sec. 1012. Analysis by the SEC. Sec. 1013. Report to Congress. Sec. 1014. Definitions. Subtitle D—Securities and Exchange Commission Overpayment Credit Sec. 1016.
Refunding or crediting overpayment of section 31 fees. Subtitle E—Fair Access to Investment Research Sec. 1021. Safe harbor for investment fund research. Subtitle F—Accelerating Access to Capital Sec. 1026. Expanded eligibility for use of Form S–3. Subtitle G—SEC Small Business Advocate Sec. 1031. Establishment of Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation and Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee. Subtitle H—Small Business Credit Availability Sec. 1036.
Business development company ownership of securities of investment advisers and certain financial companies. Sec. 1037. Expanding access to capital for business development companies. Sec. 1038. Parity for business development companies regarding offering and proxy rules. Subtitle I—Fostering Innovation Sec. 1041. Temporary exemption for low-revenue issuers. Subtitle J—Small Business Capital Formation Enhancement Sec. 1046. Annual review of government-business forum on capital formation.
Subtitle K—Helping Angels Lead Our Startups Sec. 1051. Definition of angel investor group. Sec. 1052. Clarification of general solicitation. Subtitle L—Main Street Growth Sec. 1056. Venture exchanges. Subtitle M—Micro Offering Safe Harbor Sec. 1061. Exemptions for micro-offerings. Subtitle N—Private Placement Improvement Sec. 1066. Revisions to SEC Regulation D. Subtitle O—Supporting America’s Innovators Sec. 1071. Investor limitation for qualifying venture capital funds. Subtitle P—Fix Crowdfunding Sec. 1076.
Crowdfunding vehicles. Sec. 1077. Crowdfunding exemption from registration. Subtitle Q—Corporate Governance Reform and Transparency Sec. 1081. Definitions. Sec. 1082. Registration of proxy advisory firms. Sec. 1083. Commission annual report. Subtitle R—Senior Safe Sec. 1091. Immunity. Sec. 1092. Training required. Sec. 1093. Relationship to State law. Subtitle S—National Securities Exchange Regulatory Parity Sec. 1096. Application of exemption. Title XI—Regulatory Relief for Main Street and Community Financial Institutions Subtitle A—Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Sec. 1101.
Mortgage originator definition. Sec. 1102. High-Cost mortgage definition. Subtitle B—Mortgage Choice Sec. 1106. Definition of points and fees. Subtitle C—Financial Institution Customer Protection Sec. 1111. Requirements for deposit account termination requests and orders. Sec. 1112. Amendments to the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. Subtitle D—Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Sec. 1116. Safe harbor for certain loans held on portfolio.
Subtitle E—Application of the Expedited Funds Availability Act Sec. 1121. Application of the Expedited Funds Availability Act. Subtitle F—Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement Sec. 1126. Changes required to small bank holding company policy statement on assessment of financial and managerial factors. Subtitle G—Community Institution Mortgage Relief Sec. 1131. Community financial institution mortgage relief. Subtitle H—Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Sec. 1136.
Timeliness of examination reports. Subtitle I—National Credit Union Administration Budget Transparency Sec. 1141. Budget transparency for the NCUA. Subtitle J—Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk Sec. 1146. Regulations appropriate to business models. Subtitle K—Federal Savings Association Charter Flexibility Sec. 1151. Option for Federal savings associations to operate as a covered savings association. Subtitle L—SAFE Transitional Licensing Sec. 1156. Eliminating barriers to jobs for loan originators.
Subtitle M—Right to Lend Sec. 1161. Small business loan data collection requirement. Subtitle N—Community Bank Reporting Relief Sec. 1166. Short form call report. Subtitle O—Homeowner Information Privacy Protection Sec. 1171. Study regarding privacy of information collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975. Subtitle P—Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Sec. 1176. Depository institutions subject to maintenance of records and disclosure requirements. Subtitle Q—National Credit Union Administration Advisory Council Sec. 1181.
Credit Union Advisory Council. Subtitle R—Credit Union Examination Reform Sec. 1186. Extension of examination cycle of the National Credit Union Administration to 18 months or longer. Subtitle S—NCUA Overhead Transparency Sec. 1191. Fund transparency.