WASHINGTON – Today, the House of Representatives passed Congressman Andy Barr’s bipartisan, commonsense fix to a real-world problem voiced by community banks and employers in Kentucky.
H.R. 4167, the Restoring Proven Financing for American Employers Act, included significant bipartisan input from Democratic members of the House Committee on Financial Services, passing out of the Committee in March by a vote of 53-3, and passing the full House today by a bipartisan voice vote.
“H.R. 4167, the Restoring Proven Financing for American Employers Act, is a bipartisan clarification that fixes a regulatory problem impacting jobs that support families in Kentucky and across the United States,” said Congressman Barr. “I am glad that the House has come together to advance this commonsense solution that would ensure American employers are able to obtain affordable financing to expand their businesses and create much-needed jobs for Kentuckians.
“I was pleased to work with Congressman Barr to achieve a finished product that won the support of Democrats and Republicans,” said Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY). “This legislation will provide a necessary clarification of the Volcker Rule while maintaining the original legislative intent.”
Barr continued, “I appreciate Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney’s support and work in developing this commonsense legislation. Her input was instrumental to gaining strong bipartisan support.”
During the floor debate of H.R. 4167, Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-FL) spoke in support of H.R. 4167, thanking "the gentleman from Kentucky, Mr. Barr, who also is a member of the United Solutions Caucus, dedicated to real problem solving and saving the partisanship for another day. He worked hard on this bill and was willing to reach across the aisle for commonsense compromise. As a result of hard work, this jobs bill is on the suspension calendar and has earned a strong bipartisan vote. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.”
Click here to watch Congressman Barr's full speech during floor debate.
H.R. 4167 is supported by:
- The Kentucky Bankers Association
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- First Federal Savings Bank in Kentucky
- Independent Community Bankers of America
Excerpts from letters of support for H.R. 4167:
The Kentucky Bankers Association
- Investment in CLOs are a “conservative addition to an existing and balanced investment approach,” and a “thoughtful solution to the equity problem” that banks face.
- “Without the passage of H.R. 4167….[the inclusion of CLOs in the Volcker Rule] is likely to result in harm to customers, shareholders and perhaps even additional bank failures.”
- “Your efforts will assist our economy and our communities on the road to recovery.”
- “Passage of H.R. 4167 would allow regulators the opportunity to fix the adverse impacts of the Volcker Rule upon thousands of Main Street businesses.”
- “This bill…would prevent the unnecessary fire sale of existing CLOs, which would depress the existing CLO market and raise the cost of capital for thousands of American businesses.”
- “H.R. 4167 would correct this regulatory deficiency by allowing banks to continue investing in CLOs, thereby preserving this important source of financing that supports growth and job creation throughout our economy.”
First Federal Savings Bank in Kentucky
- “A forced liquidation of these investments could be viewed as a fire sale by the market resulting in deep discounts and material losses to our bank.”
- “Losses related to our CLO portfolio as a result of this rule could potentially translate to hiring freezes and/or layoffs for our employees and higher rates and fees to our customers in an effort to overcome these losses.”
Independent Community Bankers of America
- “Though the compliance date was later extended, this requirement could cause a significant, immediate and permanent loss of capital for community banks that hold these securities and are still recovering from the financial crisis.”
- “H.R. 4167 would avert this damaging and unanticipated outcome by repealing the divestment requirement for CLOs issued before January 31.”