Keeping Deposits Local Act
This bill allows banks to accept substantially more large deposits from local businesses, charities, and governments and keep them fully insured through bank-to-bank swapping networks without triggering regulatory penalties. It replaces fixed dollar caps with higher, sliding-scale limits and opens the program to banks with average, three-star supervisory health ratings rather than just top-rated institutions. It also directs federal regulators to study the risks and benefits of these shared deposits during financial stress, offset by a future reduction in Federal Reserve surplus funds.
What this bill touches.
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Depository institutions holding reciprocal depositsAllows qualifying agent banks to exempt larger tiered amounts of reciprocal deposits (50 percent of liabilities up to $1 billion, 40 percent between $1 billion and $10 billion, and 30 percent between $10 billion and $250 billion) from being classified as brokered deposits.
- Banks with a CAMELS rating of 3Permits depository institutions with a CAMELS supervisory rating of 3 (fair/satisfactory) to qualify as agent institutions eligible for reciprocal deposit treatment, expanding beyond those rated 1 or 2.
Who it burdens
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve BoardRequires the FDIC, in consultation with the Federal Reserve, to conduct an empirical study of reciprocal deposit usage, performance during stress, and associated risks, and submit a report to Congress within six months.
Who backs it
- Federal Reserve banksReduces the allowable surplus capital Federal Reserve banks may hold by $28 million effective September 1, 2036, directing surplus amounts above the cap to the U.S. Treasury.
The provisions, in plain language.
Exempts a larger tiered share of reciprocal deposits held by qualifying banks from being classified as brokered deposits, allowing up to 50 percent of liabilities up to $1 billion, 40 percent between $1 billion and $10 billion, and 30 percent between $10 billion and $250 billion.
Allows banks with a satisfactory or fair supervisory CAMELS rating of 3 to qualify as agent institutions eligible for reciprocal deposit exceptions, alongside institutions rated 1 or 2.
Directs the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve to study the performance, usage by institution size, stress resilience, and risks of reciprocal deposits since 2018, and report findings to Congress within six months.
Lowers the maximum surplus capital Federal Reserve banks are permitted to hold by $28 million, taking effect on September 1, 2036.