This bill, called the Community Bank LIFT Act, changes part of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act that created the Community Bank Leverage Ratio (CBLR). It raises the asset threshold for a qualifying community bank from $10,000,000,000 to $15,000,000,000. It also changes the CBLR percentage range from “not less than 8 percent and not more than 10 percent” to “not less than 6 percent and not more than 8 percent.”
The bill requires the Federal Reserve Board, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC to review the CBLR and to issue a report within 150 days after the bill becomes law. After reviewing that report, the agencies must propose rules within 180 days and finalize rules no later than 1 year after enactment to carry out the changes.
The review must consider how to modify and calibrate the CBLR to encourage more qualifying community banks to opt in, with special attention to smaller qualifying community banks and to reducing regulatory compliance burden so the CBLR is simple to apply. The report must include findings and recommendations on calculation details, treatment of asset classes, definition and qualifying criteria for qualifying community banks, procedures for opting into or out of the CBLR, transition or grace periods, and any needed statutory changes.
No publicly available information on costs or budgetary effects is included in the bill text. The bill does require federal banking regulators to perform a review, produce a report, and carry out rulemaking within specified timeframes.
The bill directs regulators to adjust the CBLR thresholds and to consider modifications intended to encourage more qualifying community banks to opt into the CBLR framework and to reduce compliance burdens, especially for smaller community banks. Those aims are stated in the bill’s review and report requirements.
No publicly available information on opponents’ views is included in the bill text or provided metadata.