Main Street Act
Key claim: The Main Street Act (HR6955) would ease U.S. banking regulation by phasing in capital rules for new banks, lowering leverage ratios and raising asset thresholds for community and rural banks, tailoring supervisory burdens, and simplifying bank-merger and acquisition approvals.
Abstract
(HR6955 · 119th Congress)
Main Street Capital Access Act or the Main Street Act This bill lessens and otherwise modifies banking regulations, including those regarding institution formation, supervision by federal financial regulators, and bank merger requirements. Under the bill, new banks have a three-year phase-in period to meet certain capital requirements. The bill also reduces the leverage ratio for certain rural community banks. Financial regulators must (1) tailor regulatory actions to limit burdens on financial institutions and must consider the institutions’ risk profiles and business models, and (2) review their regulations more frequently and expand the scope of these reviews. The bill eases requirements regarding bank mergers, for example, by allowing financial regulators to approve certain bank mergers without considering if the merger is noncompetitive or monopolistic. The bill increases the dollar asset thresholds for various fees, reporting requirements, and other regulatory requirements so that more financial companies and banks are exempt from these requirements. For example, the bill increases the total asset threshold above which financial holding companies need Federal Reserve Board approval to acquire a company, thereby allowing for more acquisitions without board approval. The bill also raises certain asset thresholds so as to allow additional small bank holding companies to operate with higher debt levels and additional small banks to qualify for a longer examination cycle. The bill also provides flexibilities regarding the use of reciprocal deposits, the resolution of failed banks, and other regulated activities.
Latest action (2026-04-20): Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 535.
Why this matters
The Main Street Capital Access Act would broadly recalibrate the prudential regime facing community and rural banks — lowering leverage ratios, raising asset thresholds that trigger heightened supervision, phasing in capital rules for de novo banks, and easing merger approvals. For consumers and small businesses in underbanked areas, it could expand access to local banking by lowering the cost of forming and operating community institutions; for regulators, it narrows the perimeter of intensive supervision, which supporters frame as tailoring and critics view as reducing safety-and-soundness oversight.