Waters: Stablecoin Bill Would Authorize CBDC
At the opening of today’s HFSC markup, Chairwoman Waters (D-CA) and Ranking Member McHenry (R-NC) announced that they were close to a bipartisan draft of stablecoin legislation and hope to complete one by the August recess. Chairwoman Waters said the bill would include authorization for CBDC to ensure U.S. global competitiveness. We would expect this to follow the outline of the draft Rep. Himes (D-CT) released this spring.
Revised Overdrafts, Credit Data Bills Advance
The HFSC today, although postponing recorded votes, lightly approved H.R. 4277, Rep. Maloney’s (D-NY) overdraft protection bill. The bill would limit overdraft fees banks can charge customers to no more than one per month or six per year, allowing the CFPB to raise that limit; require the fees to be reasonable and proportional to the amount overdrawn and the cost of providing coverage for the overcharge; prevent institutions from posting transactions in an order that would maximize overdraft fees; and require banks to let customers decide if they want coverage. It appears that the bill will not have the option for the CFPB to impose a 24-month moratorium included in the legislation when it last came before the Committee, but we will review the bill as reported to determine if that is the case.