InfoBytes Blog
House passes bill to ease operational risk capital requirements for banks
On February 27, in a bipartisan vote of 245-169, the House passed H.R. 4296, which would ease the operational risk capital requirements for banks based on several factors. Specifically, the bill would prohibit the establishment of such requirements unless they are based primarily on the risks posed by a bank's current activities and are determined by a forward-looking assessment of its potential losses and not solely on historic losses. The requirements must also allow for certain adjustments based on certain operational risk mitigants. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling stated in a press release issued by the Committee that “H.R. 4296 simply amends the method of how reserve capital is calculated” and that “banks would still retain sufficient reserves to weather an economic storm, but they would also be able to put the billions of dollars currently sitting on the sidelines to work to help fuel the economy.”