House Votes to Modernize Bank Oversight and Kill the Penny

A bill that would require financial regulators to assess their technological capabilities and identify ways to make examinations more efficient, effective and responsive was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this week, the House Financial Services Committee said in a Thursday (Sept. 17) press release.

The bill, the Fostering the Use of Technology to Uphold Regulatory Effectiveness in Supervision Act (FUTURES Act; H.R. 8278), sponsored by Reps. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) and Bill Foster (D-Ill.), was passed by a vote of 417 to 7, according to the release.

Stutzman said in a Tuesday (Sept. 15) press release: “In the age of AI, it is imperative that regulatory technology keep up with monetary technological development. In the financial sector, this is especially important as Americans’ assets, savings and investments hang in the balance.”

Foster said in a Thursday post on X: “Agentic AI is bringing new threats to our financial system, possibly intensifying bank runs and other cybersecurity risks. Financial agencies must continuously assess their tech so Congress can better protect consumers.”

The FUTURES Act was one of four bills from the House Financial Services Committee passed by the House this week.

Another bill, the Common Cents Act (H.R. 10167), would end production of the penny and allow for the production of a more cost-effective nickel. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) and was passed by a voice vote, per the release.

McClain said in a Monday (Sept. 14) press release: “If the federal government is spending nearly four cents to make a penny worth one cent, something is broken. House Republicans are proving the common sense still have a place in government by cutting waste and protecting taxpayer dollars.”

A third bill, the Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act (GUARD Act; H.R. 2978), would allow law enforcement to use eligible federal grant funds to investigate financial crimes and would improve federal coordination and reporting on emerging fraud trends. The bill was sponsored by Reps. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and was passed by a vote of 414 to 7, according to the release.

Nunn said in a Tuesday press release: “The GUARD Act came directly from an Iowa sheriff’s deputy who told me officers were watching criminals steal the life savings of hardworking Iowans but lacked the tools to track them down and recover the money.”

Gottheimer said in a Wednesday (Sept. 16) press release: “The GUARD Act gives our cops and investigators the tools and the resources to hunt these fraudsters down, claw back stolen money and protect the people who built this country.”

A fourth bill passed this week by the House, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2025 (H.R. 4646), would ensure that protections for whistleblowers working on federally funded contracts apply to contracts previously funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) and was passed by a vote of 424 to 0, per the release.

De La Cruz said in a Tuesday press release that whistleblower protections originally passed in 2013 have not been applied to HUD contractors with contracts that pre-date 2103.

“This legislation fixes that by providing much-needed clarity to HUD and ensuring whistleblower protections apply to every HUD contractor, regardless of when a contract was signed,” De La Cruz said.