Doug Bereuter: “this Member has been a strong supporter of regulatory burden relief for our financial institutions in the past. However…”

“this Member has been a strong supporter of regulatory burden relief for our financial institutions in the past. However, this Member will oppose the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2003 (H.R. 1375) because of the provisions which preempt the laws of over 30 states on either interstate bank branching, the bank acquisition ``age'' requirements or both. As a former State senator in the Nebraska Unicameral legislature, this Member believes Congress should continue to defer to State legislatures on these questions. Under current Federal law, State and national chartered banks can branch de novo into a new State only if the State explicitly permits de novo interstate branching. This provision of Federal law was enacted in the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994. Furthermore, under Riegle-Neal, bank holding companies are permitted to acquire an existing bank in any State. However, under this law, a state can adopt ``age'' laws which provide that a bank holding company located out-of-State can only acquire a bank in the State if the bank has been in existence for a certain amount of time (up to 5 years) as determined by the State. Section 401 of H.R. 1375 would preempt State laws as they relate to both interstate bank branching and the ``age'' requirement for the acquisition of existing banks.”