Sponsors (9)
The bill trades clearer, more specific statutory limits (reducing legal uncertainty for banks) against the risk that a binding numeric cap will reduce bank flexibility, create short-term regulatory uncertainty, and potentially shift costs onto consumers or taxpayers.
National banks and state member banks will have a specific numeric limit (15) in statute replacing a vague term, reducing legal uncertainty and lowering litigation and compliance costs for those institutions.
If the new numeric limit (15) is more restrictive than the prior vague language, national and state member banks could lose some authority to invest or act, which may reduce services or investment activity available to customers.
The insertion of an unspecified numeric value into 12 U.S.C. § 338a creates short-term regulatory ambiguity until the provision is finalized, leaving state member banks uncertain about permissible 'public welfare' investments.
If banks alter lending or investment behavior to comply with a more restrictive numeric limit, those changes could shift costs to consumers or taxpayers (for example through higher fees, reduced lending, or greater public support needs).
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Replaces numeric wording in two banking statutes—one change sets a numeric value to 15; the other inserts new (unspecified) text—altering bank powers and public-welfare investment language.
Official title: To allow the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to increase the aggregate amount of investments that a national banking association and a State member bank may make to promote the public welfare, and for other purposes.
Introduced November 4, 2025 by Michael Lawler · Last progress November 4, 2025
Makes targeted, technical changes to two federal banking statutes by replacing unspecified numeric terms with new numeric language (one replacement is the number “15”; the other is an unspecified insertion). The bill only contains a short title plus those two statutory edits and does not create new programs, funding, or deadlines. The edits change operative statutory text governing national banking associations and State member banks’ public-welfare investments by altering numeric wording in two specific sentences of existing statutes; the practical effect depends on the precise numeric replacement in the second edit, which is not specified in the provided text.