To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to direct the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the National Credit Union Administration to establish emergency transaction account guarantee programs, and for other purposes.

Key Points

• This bill creates a new emergency tool that would let the FDIC and the National Credit Union Administration fully insure all money in non-interest-bearing checking accounts during a banking crisis, removing the usual $250,000 limit. This would protect businesses and individuals who keep large balances in checking accounts for payroll or daily operations.
• The program can only be activated after the Treasury Secretary, consulting with the White House, formally declares that a banking stress event exists. This means banks are seeing an unusual, widespread loss of deposits that could seriously hurt the economy or the banking system.
• The emergency guarantee is temporary by design. It lasts a maximum of six months with a possible one-time three-month extension, and the Treasury Secretary must report to Congress to justify any extension. A GAO review follows within 90 days of the program ending.
• Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund from this program would be paid back through special fees charged to banks and their holding companies, not by taxpayers. Credit unions would face a similar repayment structure through assessments on insured credit unions.
• The Treasury Secretary must testify before the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee within 30 days of activating the program, providing a layer of congressional oversight even though Congress does not vote to approve the activation itself.

Votes

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Related Bills

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