S. 3048: SAFE Banking Act of 2012

Before you vote › Federal bills

S. 3048: SAFE Banking Act of 2012

112th Congress · introduced 2012-05-09 · Finance and Financial Sector · Latest: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-679.

federal

Save to my notebook What does this mean? Print

Official title

SAFE Banking Act of 2012

Plain summary

Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Efficient Banking Act of 2012 or SAFE Banking Act of 2012 - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to prohibit a bank holding company from holding more than 10% of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in the United States. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) to require any bank holding company having a deposit concentration in violation of specified interstate banking requirements to sell or transfer liabilities to unaffiliated firms to bring the company into compliance with them. Revises the formula in the definition of "liabilities" to replace: (1) the total risk-weighted assets of the financial company (or of the U.S. operations of a foreign-based financial company) as adjusted to reflect exposures that are deducted from regulatory capital; with (2) total assets of the financial company (or of the U.S. operations of a foreign-based financial company), including all off-balance-sheet assets, including financings of assets for which the issuer has more than minimal economic or reputational risks or rewards. Prohibits a financial company from holding more than 10% of the total consolidated liabilities of all financial companies. Prescribes leverage ratio requirements for operating subsidiaries of bank holding companies and financial companies to prohibit either a bank holding company with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more, or a Board-supervised nonbank financial company, from maintaining tangible common equity (qualifying common stockholders' equity plus retained earnings) in an amount less than 10% of average total consolidated assets (which include all off-balance-sheet assets, including financings of assets for which the issuer has more than minimal economic or reputational risks or rewards). Authorizes federal regulators to grant an emergency temporary exemption from such ratio requirements if necessary to prevent an imminent threat to the financial stability of the United States. Directs the Board to: (1) establish a leverage ratio for all operating non-insured depository institution subsidiaries of bank holding companies with $50 billion or more in total consolidated assets and nonbank financial companies; and (2) require a noncompliant such company to raise capital, sell, or otherwise transfer assets or off-balance sheet items to unaffiliated firms (prompt corrective action). Prohibits a bank holding company from possessing nondeposit liabilities exceeding 2% of the annual gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States. Authorizes the Board to: (1) set a separate liability limit for certain bank holding companies primarily engaged in the business of insurance; and (2) exclude specified deposits from its calculation of nondeposit liabilities if necessary to ensure consistent and equitable treatment of institutions with international operations. Prohibits a nonbank financial company supervised by the Board from possessing nondeposit liabilities exceeding 3% of the U.S. annual GDP.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

The strongest published arguments

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH] · 3 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-112s3048.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/112/s>

Record fed-us-cong112-s3048 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112