
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995                   TAG: 9505190085
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

BILL CUTS BANKS' RED TAPE, RAISES ATM LIABILITY

A major bill to cut red tape for the banking industry won cautious support from bank regulators Thursday, but a strong fight remains over particulars such as a rewrite of community lending and some consumer protection laws.

One controversial provision of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Douglas Bereuter, R-Neb., would increase consumers' liability from $50 to $500 in the event someone illegally used their bank ATM card to withdraw money.

During a House banking subcommittee hearing, Rep. Bruce Vento, D-Minn., attacked that provision as unfair to consumers. He argued the measure's advocates haven't made a case for a 10-fold increase in the liability ceiling.

The prospects of consumers paying more when their ATM cards are stolen is just one facet of the complex bill, dubbed the ``Financial Institutions Regulatory Relief Act.''

It would streamline information about fees and penalties banks have to disclose to consumers through the Truth in Savings Act. It would exempt small banks from examinations under the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA, a key law to battle lending discrimination. Banks that would qualify for an exemption would be smaller than $100 million in assets or have a main office located in a town smaller than 30,000 people.

It also would reduce regulatory burdens on healthy, well-capitalized banks by making it easier to acquire mortgage companies and other nonbanking businesses.

by CNB