Congress could be closer to changing a financial services company risk management program that it developed in the wake of the Great Recession.
Members of the U.S. House today voted 297-121 to pass H.R. 4061, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act bill.
(Related: House Packages SIFI Transparency Bill for Floor Action)
All but one of the 232 Republicans who voted supported the bill.
The bill also received an unusually high level of support from House Democrats: 66 of the 186 Democrats who participated voted for the bill.
Getting the support of one-third of the Democrats in the Senate would give supporters a good shot at getting the bill through the Senate under “regular order” rules. Republicans hold 51 seats in the Senate. Under regular order rules In the Senate, an ordinary bill needs 60 votes to reach the Senate floor.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla.
A Child of the Great Recession
H.R. 4061 would require FSOC to use a more open process when deciding whether life insurers and other non-bank organizations are “systemically important financial institutions,” or SIFIs.