Pub. 14 2017 Issue 1

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S 10 HB 276: Uniform Money Services Act (Strickler). The bill increases the threshold amount of revenue earned from $500 to $2,000 check cashing within a 30-day peri- od to require a person to be licensed pursuant to the Uni- form Money Services Act. Signed by the Governor. HB 326: Protection of Vulnerable Adults (Maes- tas Barnes). This bill would enact the Protecting Vulner- able Adults from Financial Exploitation Act. If a qualified individual reasonably believes that financial exploitation of an eligible adult may have occurred, that person may promptly notify relevant agencies. The person who makes a disclosure of financial exploitation will be immune from administrative or civil liability that may arise from such a disclosure. Signed by the Governor. HB 347: Financial Institutions (Lundstrom). The bill amends the New Mexico Small Loan Act and the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act to limit fees and charges on certain installment loans. The bill provides for the creation of a financial literacy fund. The bill requires that a loan made under the New Mexico Small Loan Act or the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act be reported to a nationally recognized consumer reporting agency as to the terms of the loan and borrower performance. Signed by the Governor. HB 361: State Banks (Cook). The bill reduces the required number of New Mexico resident directors of a state bank from two-thirds of the board to at least one di- rector. Signed by the Governor. HB 442: MinimumWage (Rodella). The bill would increase the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour. The bill would also prohibit municipalities and counties from en- acting ordinances or regulations that regulate the sched- uling of privately-employed workers. Vetoed by the Gov- ernor. HB 513: Public Funds (Egolf). The bill clarifies the authorization for the use of letters of credit issued by a federal home loan bank for securitization of public fund deposits in New Mexico. Signed by the Governor. Bills of interest that failed to be enacted by the Legisla- ture include: • Right to Work (HB 432); • Combined Corporate Income Tax Reporting (SB 1); • Employee Credit Information Privacy (SB 280); • Prohibition on Deficiency Judgments (SB 330); • Glass-Steagall (SM 25); • Income Tax Deduction for Trusts (HB 76); • Positive Credit Reporting Mandate (HB 100); • Deed of Trust/Home Loan Protection Act revisions (HB 205); • Legalization of Marijuana (SB 278); and • State-owned Bank Study (HM 7); Federal Matters: In late March, Jay Jenkins, JasonWyatt, John Gulas, Jon Hitchcock, Lonnie Talbert and I attended the Annual ABA Government Relations Summit in the Nation’s capital. We heard from House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) who suggested that if enacted, the Financial Choice Act will serve as a “deregulation life preserver” for community banking institutions. “There’s something fundamentally wrong in America when you have to lay off a loan officer to hire a compliance officer,” Hensarling said, acknowledging the significant compliance burden that the Dodd-Frank Act’s 25,000 pages of final and proposed regulations have imposed on bankers since 2010. The goal of the Choice Act is to ensure that “a well-capitalized, qualifying bank will be empowered to remove government bureaucrats from its boardroom, and lend and invest freely,” he said. Also, addressed by the summit attendees were Senate Committee member Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), lead spon- sor of the TAILOR Act, which would require more nu- anced tailoring of regulation to different size and types and banks. Rounds emphasized the cost of overregu- lation, noting that all regulation cost $1.9 trillion each year- “half a trillion more than total personal income tax receipts”-which comes back to consumers through higher prices and reduced services. We met and discussed our legislative priorities with each member of our Congressional delegation. Out legis- lative wish list included: • We support legislation, such as the Financial Insti- tutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act, which would significantly improve the examination process and hold regulators accountable for their actions by ensuring that banks receive both timely examination reports and the rationale for the decisions of the ex- aminers. It also establishes an Office of Independent Examination Review to create a fair process for banks to appeal examination matters. The House Financial Services Committee approved the bill with bipartisan support in the last Congress, • We support H.R. 1116, the TAILOR Act of 2017, the Senate companion bill, S. 366, that acknowledges a bank’s risk is not measured by size alone. These bills empower regulators to “tailor” regulatory actions so that they apply only when required by the bank’s busi- ness model and risk profile. Instead of one-size-fits-all regulation, this more thoughtful, analytical approach would make for a safer and sounder financial system while freeing billions of dollars in capital for invest- ment and lending. • We support legislation initiatives which would fix ill-fitting rules that hinder economic growth while contributing little, if any, to bank safety and soundness. These include bills to: increase or eliminate arbitrary thresholds, such as those that trigger CFPB supervision or a SIFI designation; streamline Currency Transaction Reports by eliminating unnecessary filings and increasing thresholds; raise the threshold for small bank holding company relief from $1 billion to $5 billion; and permit highly-rated and well-capitalized depository institutions to file a short-form call report in two quarters, rather than four quarters. One bill incorporating many of these provisions is the Financial CHOICE Act. • We support legislation, such as the Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act which would significantly improve the examination process and hold regulators accountable for their