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 b...