Legislative Activity

Lawmakers Poised to Move Forward with TRIA Legislation, Dodd-Frank Also in Focus

As previously discussed, the 113th Congress was unable to renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). Given the urgency to pass such legislation, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has indicated that “the House will act very quickly in the new Congress to reauthorize this program.”

As noted in our post-midterm election analysis, particularly as it relates to financial services industry issues, Republican lawmakers are anxious to move forward with reforms to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).  During the closing days of the 113th Congress, lawmakers passed two reforms to the Dodd-Frank Act. The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 narrowed the types of derivatives transactions required to be “pushed out” from the depository institution and into affiliates not backed by the bank-supported FDIC deposit insurance fund, while the Insurance Capital Standards Clarification Act of 2014 provided flexibility to the Federal Reserve in its application of capital requirements to insurance companies designated as systemically important.

Lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to pass other Dodd-Frank Act reforms, but the 114th Congress will feature a Republican-controlled House and Senate that stand ready to reform the law, despite protests from Democrats. As such, it is expected that Republicans will continue to make a push to scale back to the Dodd-Frank Act over the course of the next two years.