OVERVIEW

On December 2, 2009, the House Financial Services Committee (the “Committee”) passed the Financial Stability Improvement Act (H.R. 3996), financial stability legislation in response to the recent economic crisis, by a party-line vote of 31-27 without the participation of the Committee’s 10 members from the Congressional Black Caucus, who boycotted the mark-up. This bill will be part of a comprehensive package of financial system reforms, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173), that will be considered on the House floor the week of December 7, 2009. Specifically, H.R. 4173 incorporates nine major pieces of legislation approved by the Committee, including the Financial Stability Improvement Act. H.R. 4173, if cleared by the House Committee on Rules panel, is expected to be ready for House action on December 9, 2009, with debate to be conducted according to each title in the package.