119-hr4544

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4544 Reported in House

    (RH) ]

<DOC>

 Union Calendar No. 210
119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4544

 [Report No. 119-253]

To direct certain Federal banking and credit union agencies to promote 
 the formation of de novo regulated institutions through the review of 
 application processes, the review of capital raising by de novo 
 regulated institutions, and the establishment of various outreach 
 programs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 17, 2025

 Ms. Waters introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services

 September 8, 2025

 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
 House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
 in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 
 17, 2025]

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To direct certain Federal banking and credit union agencies to promote 
 the formation of de novo regulated institutions through the review of 
 application processes, the review of capital raising by de novo 
 regulated institutions, and the establishment of various outreach 
 programs, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``American Access to Banking Act''.

SEC. 2. STREAMLINING APPLICATION PROCESS AND REVIEW OF CAPITAL RAISING 
 BY DE NOVO REGULATED INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Each of the Federal financial institutions 
regulatory agencies shall--

    (1) for the purpose of streamlining the process of applying 
 to become a de novo regulated institution, conduct a review of 
 any application forms related to such process;

    (2) to the extent practicable, gather information needed 
 from applicants seeking to become a de novo regulated 
 institution from other Federal Government agencies or public 
 sources to minimize information requests of such applicants; 
 and

    (3) in consultation with the Securities and Exchange 
 Commission, review how de novo regulated institutions raise 
 capital while maintaining investor protections, including the 
 impact of--
        (A) general capital raising restrictions; and
        (B) capital raising restrictions related to 
 individuals who are not accredited investors.

    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this section, and annually for 5 years thereafter, each of the 
Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies shall submit to the 
Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and 
publish on a public website of such agency a report that contains--

    (1) a description of the actions taken by such agency 
 pursuant to subsection

    (a) ; and

    (2) as appropriate, any administrative or legislative 
 recommendations with respect to the purpose described in 
 subsection

    (a)

    (3) .

SEC. 3. IMPROVING COMMUNICATION WITH DE NOVO REGULATED INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Each of the Federal financial institutions 
regulatory agencies shall, at the request of an applicant to become a 
de novo regulated institution, designate an employee of the agency as a 
caseworker, who may perform such duty in addition to the other duties 
of the employee.

    (b) Caseworker Duties.--Each caseworker described in subsection

    (a) shall, to the maximum extent practicable--

    (1) meet with the lead organizers applying to become a de 
 novo regulated institution to provide a tutorial with respect 
 to the application process; and

    (2) be the primary point of contact of the respective 
 Federal financial institutions regulatory agency for such 
 organizers during the application process.
            (c) New Caseworker.--Each agency described in subsection

    (a) may 
designate a new caseworker, as appropriate, to support continuity based 
on staffing and responsibilities assigned to the current caseworker.

SEC. 4. DE NOVO MENTOR-PROTEGE PARTNERSHIPS.

    (a) In General.--At the request of an institution that seeks to 
become a de novo regulated institution, each of the Federal financial 
institutions regulatory agencies shall, to the maximum extent 
practicable, provide a list to such institution of similar types of 
institutions that--

    (1) were recently approved to become a de novo regulated 
 institution; and

    (2) are interested in volunteering to serve as a mentor to 
 provide advice about the de novo application process.

    (b) Mentorship Information.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this section, each of the Federal financial 
institutions regulatory agencies shall provide public information and 
directions on how an institution may request a mentor or serve as a 
mentor as described in subsection

    (a) .

SEC. 5. STATE AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Each of the Federal financial institutions 
regulatory agencies shall develop a plan to--

    (1) regularly consult with State regulators to promote 
 cooperation between State and Federal banking and credit union 
 agencies in the creation of de novo regulated institutions, 
 including responding to any State regulator that requests 
 assistance on how a State-chartered financial institution can 
 request Federal insurance;

    (2) regularly consult with stakeholders, including 
 applicants to become de novo regulated institutions and 
 recently approved regulated institutions, to inform any reforms 
 that may support the creation of de novo regulated 
 institutions, including rural institutions, community 
 development financial institutions, and minority depository 
 institutions; and

    (3) provide guidance, training material, and regular 
 workshops to assist any interested parties to understand such 
 agencies processes.

    (b) Submission to Congress.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
 the enactment of this section, and every 5 years thereafter, 
 each of the Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies 
 shall submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the 
 House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
 and Urban Affairs of the Senate the respective plan of such 
 agency described in subsection

    (a) .

    (2) Public comment.--With respect to developing the plan 
 described in subsection

    (a) , each of the Federal financial 
 institutions regulatory agencies shall--
        (A) provide an opportunity for public comments; and
        (B) take such public comments into consideration.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) In General.--In this Act:

    (1) Federal banking agency.--The term ``Federal banking 
 agency'' has the meaning given the term in 

section 3 of the 
 Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).

    (2) Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies.--
 The term ``Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies'' 
 has the meaning given the term in 

section 1003 of the Federal 
 Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 
 U.S.C. 3302).

    (3) Regulated institution.--The term ``regulated 
 institution'' means--
        (A) with respect to a Federal banking agency, a 
 depository institution (as such term is defined in 
 

section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 
 U.S.C. 1813)) for which the Federal banking agency is 
 the appropriate Federal banking agency (as such term is 
 defined in such 

section 3); and
        (B) with respect to the National Credit Union 
 Administration, an insured credit union (as such term 
 is defined in 

section 101 of the Federal Credit Union 
 Act (12 U.S.C. 1752)).

    (4) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
 States, the District of Colombia, and each territory of the 
 United States.

    (5) State regulator.--The term ``State regulator'' means--
        (A) with respect to a Federal banking agency, a 
 State banking regulator; and
        (B) with respect to the National Credit Union 
 Administration, the State regulatory agency having 
 jurisdiction over a State credit union (as such term is 
 defined in 

section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act 
 (12 U.S.C. 1752)).

    (b) Rule of Construction.--For purposes of this Act, the process of 
applying to become a de novo regulated institution shall include the 
process of applying for Federal deposit insurance, Federal share 
insurance, or membership of a Federal reserve bank.
 Union Calendar No. 210

119th CONGRESS

 1st Session

 H. R. 4544

 [Report No. 119-253]

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To direct certain Federal banking and credit union agencies to promote 
 the formation of de novo regulated institutions through the review of 
 application processes, the review of capital raising by de novo 
 regulated institutions, and the establishment of various outreach 
 programs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 September 8, 2025

 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
 House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed