House passes bill to ease banking regulations

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation that would make a series of changes to federal banking regulations, including easing certain capital, supervisory and merger requirements for community banks and other smaller financial institutions.

The bill is sponsored by House Committee on Financial Services Chairman French Hill (Ark.-02) and Subcommittee on Financial Institutions Chairman Andy Barr (Ky.-06)

The bill, H.R. 6955, known as the Main Street Capital Access Act, passed largely along party lines on a final vote of 270-154. A total of 213 Republicans and 56 Democrats voted in favor of the measure, while 154 Democrats voted against it. One Republican voted no, and one independent voted in favor.

According to the bill’s summary, the legislation lessens and otherwise modifies banking regulations related to institution formation, supervision by federal financial regulators and bank merger requirements.

The news comes as Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts released data that banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Truist, PNC, Fifth Third, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo reported a combined $56.1 billion in second-quarter 2026 mortgage volume, up from $46.4 billion in the first quarter.

Changes could prompt large banks to reenter mortgage market

Industry executives have told HousingWire that forthcoming changes to capital requirements could prompt large banks to reenter or expand in the mortgage market. Still, they expect institutions to move cautiously rather than make immediate strategic changes.

“As a former community banker, I’ve seen firsthand how community banks drive Main Street’s growth,” Hill said in a statement. “For decades, Washington has forced these institutions to operate under rules built for the largest, most systemically important banks, stifling local lending and accelerating industry consolidation. This bill fixes that. It spurs the formation of new banks, restores common-sense tailoring to bank regulation and removes barriers that have limited lending in communities across the country.”

Barr also released a statement calling the passage of the bill a “regulatory framework that expands access to capital, promotes economic growth, and strengthens Main Street.”

The bill would give newly chartered banks three years to meet certain capital requirements and reduce the leverage ratio for qualifying rural community banks. It also would require federal banking regulators to tailor supervisory actions based on an institution’s risk profile and business model, conduct more frequent reviews of regulations and expand the scope of those reviews.

The bill also would ease certain bank merger requirements by allowing regulators to approve some mergers without evaluating whether a transaction is noncompetitive or monopolistic in specified cases.

In addition, it would increase asset thresholds tied to regulatory fees, reporting requirements and other oversight provisions, exempting more financial institutions from those requirements.

Raises the asset threshold

Among other provisions, the legislation would raise the asset threshold above which financial holding companies must obtain Federal Reserve Board approval before acquiring another company, allowing more acquisitions to proceed without board approval. It also would raise thresholds allowing additional small bank holding companies to operate with higher debt levels and enable more small banks to qualify for longer examination cycles.

The bill also includes provisions related to reciprocal deposits, the resolution of failed banks and other regulated banking activities.

The proposed legislation faces several opponents

In a joint letter to the House dated July 21, 28 consumer advocacy groups, including the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), National Consumer Law Center, Public Citizen and Community Housing Development Corporation, called the bill a “dangerous deregulatory package.”

“H.R. 6955 treats bank rules as burdens to be minimized rather than what they are: essential safeguards that reduce the likelihood and severity of systemic risk, bank failures and publicly financed bailouts, while protecting consumers from predatory practices, redlining, and other forms of racial discrimination in lending,” the letter said.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren also voiced concerns about the bill. “While American families struggle to afford everyday expenses, House Republicans are advancing a key pillar of President Trump’s Wall Street First Agenda,” she said. “The Main Street Capital Access Act is a massive giveaway to Wall Street masquerading as a community bank relief bill. The bill would relax supervision of big banks and their executives, fast-track big bank mergers, exempt more big banks from enhanced oversight, and provide big bank lawyers with new tools to overturn safeguards and enforcement actions in court.”

Warren called the bill “reckless” and claimed that the provisions of the bill would “increase the likelihood of big bank failures.” She also said that it “shreds bipartisan compromises struck during the negotiation of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, inviting much greater risk into the banking system.”

The measure now moves to the Senate for consideration.