House Passes Several Derivatives Bills

WASHINGTON — The House passed several derivatives bills that would roll back or modify provisions of the Dodd-Frank reform law, despite opposition by the White House and Democrats.

The Swap Jurisdiction Certainty Act, which passed by a vote of 301-124, is likely the most controversial of the banking-related provisions the lawmakers considered on Wednesday. It would require the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have identical cross-border swaps rules and authorize the agency to regulate swaps transactions between the U.S. and foreign entities.

The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy on Tuesday against the bill, calling it unnecessary because regulators are already coordinating to work on many of the issues addressed in the legislation.

"Given these ongoing coordination efforts, passage of this bill would be premature and disruptive to the current and ongoing implementation of the reforms," the White House statement said. "The administration believes regulators should be given the time necessary to complete their work."

Two less contentious bills, the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act of 2013 and the Swap Data Repository and Clearinghouse Indemnification Correction Act of 2013, were passed by a vote of 411-12 and 420-2, respectively.

The price stabilization bill would exempt end users from meeting margin requirements on certain swaps while the latter legislation would remove some indemnification requirements.

Lawmakers also passed by voice vote the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act, which gives regulators the authority to make changes to the Federal Housing Administration's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program through a mortgagee letter rather than via the traditional regulatory process.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Law and regulation
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER