French Hill in the 119th Congress. Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5317) to amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to ensure that certain custodial deposits of
Official Congressional Record section title: Community Bank Deposit Access Act of 2025
Full text
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5317) to amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to ensure that certain custodial deposits of well capitalized insured depository institutions are not considered to be funds obtained by or through deposit brokers, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5317
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 “Community Bank Deposit
Access Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. LIMITED EXCEPTION FOR CUSTODIAL DEPOSITS.
(a) In General.—Section 29 of the Federal Deposit
Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831f) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
“(j) Limited Exception for Custodial Deposits.—
“(1) In general.—Custodial deposits of an eligible
institution shall not be considered to be funds obtained,
directly or indirectly, by or through a deposit broker to the
extent that the total amount of such custodial deposits does
not exceed an amount equal to 20 percent of the total
liabilities of the eligible institution.
“(2) Definitions.—In this subsection:
“(A) Custodial deposit.—The term `custodial deposit'
means a deposit that is not deposited at an insured
depository institution in return for fees paid by the insured
depository institution pursuant to an agreement with a third
party and that would otherwise be considered to be obtained,
directly or indirectly, by or through a deposit broker, if
the deposit is deposited at 1 or more insured depository
institutions, for the purpose of providing or maintaining
deposit insurance for the benefit of a third party, by or
through any of the following, each acting in a formal
custodial or fiduciary capacity for the benefit of a third
party:
“(i) An insured depository institution serving as agent,
trustee, or custodian.
“(ii) A trust entity controlled by an insured depository
institution serving as agent, trustee, or custodian.
“(iii) A State-chartered trust company serving as agent,
trustee, or custodian.
“(iv) A plan administrator or investment advisor, acting
in a formal custodial or fiduciary capacity for the benefit
of a plan.
“(B) Eligible institution.—The term `eligible
institution' means an insured depository institution that
accepts custodial deposits, if the insured depository
institution has less than $10,000,000,000 in total assets as
reported on the consolidated report of condition and income
as reported quarterly to the appropriate Federal banking
agency and—
“(i)(I) when most recently examined under section 10(d)
was assigned a composite rating of 1, 2, or 3 under the
Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System (or an
equivalent rating under a comparable rating system); and
“(II) is well capitalized; or
“(ii) has obtained a waiver pursuant to subsection (c).
“(C) Plan.—The term `plan' has the meaning given the term
in section 3 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002).
“(D) Plan administrator.—The term `plan administrator'
has the meaning given the term `administrator' in section 3
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29
U.S.C. 1002).
“(E) Well capitalized.—The term `well capitalized' has
the meaning given the term in section 38(b).”.
(b) Interest Rate Restriction.—Section 29 of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831f), as amended by
subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end the
following:
“(k) Restriction on Interest Rate Paid on Certain
Custodial Deposits.—
“(1) Definitions.—In this subsection—
“(A) the terms `custodial deposit', `eligible
institution', and `well capitalized' have the meanings given
those terms in subsection (j); and
“(B) the term `covered insured depository institution'
means an insured depository institution that while acting as
an eligible institution under subsection (j), accepts
custodial deposits while not well capitalized.
“(2) Prohibition.—A covered insured depository
institution may not pay a rate of interest on custodial
deposits that are accepted while not well capitalized that,
at the time the funds or custodial deposits are accepted,
significantly exceeds the limit set forth in paragraph (3).
“(3) Limit on interest rates.—The limit on the rate of
interest referred to in paragraph (2) shall be not greater
than—
“(A) the rate paid on deposits of similar maturity in the
normal market area of the covered insured depository
institution for deposits accepted in the normal market area
of the covered insured depository institution; or
“(B) the national rate paid on deposits of comparable
maturity, as established by the Corporation, for deposits
accepted outside the normal market area of the covered
insured depository institution.”.
SEC. 3. DISCRETIONARY SURPLUS FUND.
(a) In General.—The dollar amount specified under section
7(a)(3)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C.
289(a)(3)(A)) is reduced by $4,000,000.
(b) Effective Date.—The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on September 1, 2036.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.
{time} 1730
General Leave
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Arkansas?
There was no objection.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the Congressional Budget Office estimate for the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Arkansas?
There was no objection.
Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules
The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives
announces bills that will be considered under suspension of
the rules in that chamber. Under suspension, floor debate is
limited, all floor amendments are prohibited, points of order
against the bill are waived, and final passage requires a
two-thirds majority vote.
At the request of the Majority Leader and the House
Committee on the Budget, CBO estimates the effects of those
bills on direct spending and revenues. CBO has limited time
to review the legislation before consideration. Although it
is possible in most cases to determine whether the
legislation would affect direct spending or revenues, time
may be insufficient to estimate the magnitude of those
effects. If CBO has prepared estimates for similar or
identical legislation, a more detailed assessment of
budgetary effects, including effects on spending subject to
appropriation, may be included.
EFFECTS ON DIRECT SPENDING AND REVENUES OF LEGISLATION CONSIDERATION UNDER SUSPENSION OF THE RULES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Additional
Effect on Direct Information on Direct Link to Published
Bill Number Title Spending Effect on Revenues Spending and Revenue Estimates
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— H.R. 5317.......................... Community Bank Deposit Increase by at Least Increase by at Least Would increase direct N/A
Access Act of 2025, $500K. $500K. spending by $3
as amended. million, increase
revenues by $3
million, and result
in no increase in
the deficit,. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I will speak in support of H.R. 5317, the Community Bank Deposit Access Act.
several times and worked with colleagues to extend the ability to attract deposits to local community banks to make them more competitive.
flexibility to access stable and reliable funding sources so that they can continue to meet the financial needs of the communities they serve.
our local economies by supporting small businesses, farmers, and consumers who depend on them for access to credit and other essential financial services.
access to a diverse and dependable set of funding sources so that they can continue to meet these demands.
funds placed at a bank by a third party on behalf of underlying customers or beneficiaries who own the funds but may not have a direct banking relationship with that institution.
Mr. Speaker, a few minutes ago, we talked about reciprocal deposits. Let's say I am a small business, and I have $500,000 as a typical average collected balance in my business, but I only have deposit insurance of $250,000. The reciprocal deposit bill that Mrs. Beatty offered a few minutes ago with Tom Emmer of Minnesota allows that other $250,000 for that small business to be covered for deposit insurance. That is very important and very useful to have that customer-bank service relationship.
amount of money, a much bigger business? Custodial deposits allow banks to serve their customer that way with one statement by seeing the money spread across more banks.
to play a lead role in Treasury management for a larger commercial customer.
deposits in a custodial account at a local bank, even though the tenants remain the ultimate owner of those funds and, hence, the ability to be benefited by that.
These arrangements provide benefits to all of the parties involved. Banks gain access to stable, low-cost deposits, while customers and third parties benefit from the convenience of a more centralized account management function, along with the protections provided by deposit insurance.
it can apply on a pass-through basis, meaning that underlying funds remain insured so long as each beneficiary's share stays within the applicable deposit insurance limit.
My bill would expand access to these arrangements for banks under $10 billion in assets that maintain strong capital levels and sound supervisory ratings or otherwise receive a waiver from their primary bank regulator.
that allows a community bank to support small businesses, families, and local economies.
depositors and funding relationships that might otherwise be out of reach and help diversify their funding base and improve their financial stability.
as if they were brokered deposits and subject to rules that were never intended for these type of relationship accounts.
banks and limits their ability to responsibly utilize custodial deposits to support lending in their communities.
they do not exceed 20 percent of the total liabilities of the community bank, my bill gives lenders the certainty they need to accept these funds and put that money to work in their communities.
banks, supports local lending, and preserves the safety and soundness of the financial system without increasing the risk to our Deposit Insurance Fund.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5317, the Community Bank Deposit Access Act of 2025, sponsored by Chairman Hill.
community banks and credit unions, including community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, and minority depository institutions, or MDIs.
deposits from larger banks and then use those funds to lend into their communities.
them to provide FDIC insurance on amounts larger than $250,000, although for a fee paid by the MDI or community bank.
Mr. Speaker, the original introduced bill would have provided an unnecessary exemption for the largest banks which, as we have discussed, honestly don't need help competing for deposits. I appreciate that Mr. Hill and his staff worked with us on important improvements to narrow the focus of this bill to just support community banks.
singlehandedly get community banks all the help they need to compete for deposits and acquire more small business customers.
Mr. Speaker, I would again urge the chairman and the supporters of this bill to work with me and support advancing deposit insurance reform, like my bill, which takes a data-driven approach that the chairman said he would prefer, with opportunities for stakeholder input and congressional oversight.
recently introducing their own deposit insurance reform bills. I couldn't help but notice their bills have a lot of similarities with my bill and with similar bipartisan reform efforts in the Senate.
insurance framework, and it is time for Congress to comprehensively update it again.
H.R. 5317 is a good piece of that reform effort, and I urge my colleagues to support the chairman's bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close and reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I again thank the chairman for working with me regarding improvements that were made to the bill in markup to ensure it focused on helping community banks.
Minnesota (Mr. Emmer) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) is just the beginning in our efforts to modernize our deposit insurance framework broadly and to provide even more tools for community banks to compete for deposits from local churches, nonprofits, city governments, and small businesses.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the chairman to work with me and our members to advance broad deposit insurance reform.
which serves as a good, complementary reform to help our smallest banks compete.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, let me say I appreciate the gentlewoman's engagement on deposit insurance policy at large. I think it is an important topic. She and I both share the importance of reviewing our deposit insurance system, make sure it is competitive, make sure it encourages safe and sound banking, make sure it doesn't expand in any way the moral hazard associated with too much reliance on a government safety net in any way that might encourage too great risk-taking.
She is right. We should do that in a data-dependent way and do that collectively, and we have had assistance in that regard from the FDIC and others.
bill earlier today, Mrs. Beatty and Mr. Emmer's bill, this custodial deposit effort. Both of these bills help our community banks be more competitive across the country as they try to grow their business in the face of a lot of competition.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her support. I urge a “yes” vote on both sides of the aisle, and I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1740
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kennedy of Utah). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5317, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.