Ask Congress to Oppose Credit Card Routing Bill
As the Senate considers the National Defense Authorization Act this week, there may be attempts to add the Credit Card Competition Act to the legislation as an amendment. A letter to Senate leadership from several financial trade associations said such an amendment "will rob military families of their credit card rewards, reduce the availability of safe credit, and undermine the nation's data security."
Bankers are urged to contact their lawmakers and ask them to oppose the Credit Card Competition Act.
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ACRE Introduced in the Senate
The Access to Credit for our Rural Economy Act, also known as ACRE, was introduced today in the Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan) and Angus King (I-Maine). The bill is a companion to H.R. 3139, which was introduced in the House earlier this year. ACRE excludes from gross income the interest received by a qualified lender on all loans secured by farm real estate and aquaculture facilities. Additionally, the bill would exclude from gross income the interest received by a qualified lender on home mortgage loans in rural communities of no more than 2,500 people. ACRE will allow all federally-insured banks to leverage a tax benefit that government-sponsored enterprises are already using to support rural and agricultural lending.
The American Bankers Association released a statement applauding the introduction of the ACRE Act and urging all members of Congress to support “this critically important legislation.”
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Lawmakers, Associations Support Challenge to CFPB Funding Structure
Last week, 132 Republican lawmakers filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to declare the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) funding structure as unconstitutional. Sen. Deb Fischer and Reps. Don Bacon, Mike Flood and Adrian Smith joined the brief. Nine business and financial trade associations filed a separate brief. The CFPB's funding is unique, as it comes directly from the Federal Reserve upon request from the bureau's director. Last year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals deemed this funding structure unconstitutional because it removed Congress's direct and indirect control over the agency's budget. The Supreme Court agreed to review this decision in February. In a separate case, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the CFPB's funding, leading to conflicting court rulings.
Read the Lawmakers' Brief
Read the Associations' Brief
Treasury Names FinCEN Director
Andrea Gacki was appointed director of the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Gacki will begin her new role in September.
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