House Panel Passes Reg Relief Package

The legislative package, which now heads to the House floor, also “strengthens and makes the capital markets more attractive, competitive and efficient,” Hensarling said.

The package, which passed by 271-145 vote, includes the following measures:

• Title I: H.R. 3978 — TRID Improvement Act — Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) to require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to allow for the calculation of the discounted rate title insurance companies may provide to consumers when they purchase a lenders and owners title insurance policy simultaneously.
• Title II: H.R. 3948 — Protection of Source Code Act — Amends the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to require the Securities and Exchange Commission to first issue a subpoena before it compels a person to produce or furnish to the SEC algorithmic trading source code or similar intellectual property.
• Title III: H.R. 1645 — Fostering Innovation Act — Amends Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to extend the exemption available to emerging growth companies, giving them more time to financially sustain the legal, accounting and compliance costs associated with full compliance.
• Title IV: H.R. 4546 — National Securities Exchange Regulatory Parity Act — Modernizes Section 18 of the Securities Act of 1933 to eliminate references to specific national securities exchanges and to clarify that the state “blue sky” exemption shall be available for all securities that qualify for trading in the national market system.
• Title V: H.R. 2948 — To amend the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 to provide a temporary license for loan originators transitioning between employers, and for other purposes — Amends the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 to provide temporary loan-origination authority for registered loan originators: moving from a financial institution to a state-licensed nonbank originator, or moving interstate to a state-licensed loan originator in another state.

— Check out Bill Restores Tax Exemption for Advance Refunding on ThinkAdvisor.