Small Business Credit Availability Act

Small Business Credit Availability Act - (Sec. 2) Amends the Commodity Exchange Act (as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act [Dodd-Frank]) to exclude from regulation as a swap dealer an insured depository institution, or a U.S. uninsured branch or agency of a foreign bank that has a prudential regulator.

Permits designation of a person as a swap dealer for a single type, class, or category of swap or activity, and yet considered not to be a swap dealer for other types, classes, or categories of swaps or activities.

Excludes from the definition of "swap dealer" a person that enters into swaps for such person's own account: (1) either individually or in a fiduciary capacity, but not as part of specified business activities; (2) in order to either hedge or mitigate commercial risk; or (3) to comply with state or local governmental regulations.

Excludes also from factors determinative of "swap dealer" a swap entered into for a person's own account and that involves a capacity contract, a renewable energy credit, an emissions allowance, or an emissions offset if such instrument is used to meet obligations under state or local governmental regulations.

(Sec. 3) Excludes outright from the meaning of financial entity any small bank, savings association, farm credit system institution, non-profit cooperative lender controlled by electric cooperatives, or credit union if the aggregate uncollateralized outward exposure plus aggregate potential outward exposure with respect to its swaps does not exceed $1 billion. (Thus exempts such entities from the clearing requirement.)

(Sec. 4) Redefines "major swap participant" to exclude an entity whose primary business is providing financing that facilitates the sale or lease of products by or on behalf of the parent company or its subsidiary, and uses derivatives only for the purpose of hedging underlying commercial risks in a consolidated financing and leasing portfolio at least 90% of which, as of the end of its preceding fiscal year, is qualifying financing (including loans, notes, installment sales contracts, receivables, and operating and financing leases).

Excludes certain captive finance entities from the swap clearing requirement.

(Sec. 5) Declares amendments made by this Act effective as of the enactment of the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010 (title VII of Dodd-Frank).

(Sec. 6) Requires the amendments made by this Act to be implemented: (1) through promulgation of an interim final rule, pursuant to which public comment will be sought before a final rule is issued; and (2) without regard to specified federal law on coordination of federal information policy, or certain administrative notice and comment requirements.

[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3336 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3336

 To ensure the exclusion of small lenders from certain regulations of 
                          the Dodd-Frank Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 2011

Mrs. Hartzler introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To ensure the exclusion of small lenders from certain regulations of 
                          the Dodd-Frank Act.

    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 ``Small Business Credit Availability 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF SWAP DEALER DEFINITION.

    Section 1a(49)(A) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
1a(49)(A)) is amended by striking all that follows clause (iv) and 
inserting the following flush language:
                ``provided however, in no event shall an insured 
                depository institution or an institution chartered and 
                operating under the Farm Credit Act of 1971 be 
                considered to be a swap dealer to the extent that it 
                enters into a swap--
                            ``(I) with a customer that is seeking to 
                        manage risk in connection with an extension of 
                        credit by the institution to, on behalf of, or 
                        for the benefit of, the customer; or
                            ``(II) to offset the risks arising from a 
                        swap that meets the requirement of subclause 
                        (I).''.

SEC. 3. EXCLUSIONS FROM FINANCIAL ENTITY DEFINITION.

    Section 2(h)(7)(C)(ii) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
2(h)(7)(C)(ii)) is amended to read as follows:
                            ``(ii) Exclusion.--Such definition shall 
                        not include an entity that is a small bank, 
                        savings association, farm credit system 
                        institution, or credit union if--
                                    ``(I) the total assets of the 
                                entity are $30,000,000,000 or less; or
                                    ``(II) the aggregate 
                                uncollateralized outward exposure plus 
                                aggregate potential outward exposure of 
                                the entity with respect to its swaps 
                                does not exceed $1,000,000,000.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect as if they had 
been included in subtitle A of title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 
Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
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