Small LENDER Act

Small Lenders Exempt from New Data and Excessive Reporting Act or the Small LENDER Act

This bill exempts certain financial institutions and transactions from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reporting requirements with respect to data about small business credit applications.

Under the bill, the requirements apply only to financial institutions that originate at least 500 credit transactions to small businesses in each of the preceding two years. The bill further defines small businesses as those with annual revenue of $1 million or less.

Currently, the CFPB has proposed a rule that the requirements apply only to financial institutions that originate at least 25 annual credit transactions to small businesses in each of the preceding two years. The rule further defines small businesses as those with annual revenue of $5 million or less.

The Small LENDER Act, also known as Bill 118 s 1159, is a piece of legislation currently being considered by the US Congress. The purpose of this bill is to provide regulatory relief for small lenders, particularly those that are community banks and credit unions.

The main provisions of the Small LENDER Act include increasing the threshold for banks to be considered "small" from $1 billion in assets to $10 billion. This change would exempt these smaller institutions from certain regulatory requirements that are currently imposed on larger banks.

Additionally, the bill aims to streamline the regulatory process for small lenders by reducing the amount of paperwork and reporting that they are required to submit to regulatory agencies. This is intended to free up resources for these institutions to focus on serving their customers and communities. Overall, the Small LENDER Act is designed to support small lenders and promote economic growth by reducing regulatory burdens and increasing access to credit for consumers and small businesses. It is currently being debated in Congress and may undergo further revisions before being voted on.