SB 318 -- COMPENSATION FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION REGULATORS

SPONSOR:  Crowell (Cooper, 120)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass by consent" by the Committee on
Financial Institutions by a vote of 16 to 0.

This substitute exempts, from merit system rules, those positions
in the divisions of Finance and Credit Unions in the Department
of Economic Development which are compensated through a dedicated
fund obtained from assessments and license fees used for the
examination and regulation of banks, trust companies, and credit
unions.

The directors of these divisions will prepare a salary schedule
for those positions.  A comparison with similar positions at
federal regulatory agencies will be completed, and in no instance
will the compensation for state examiners be more than 90% parity
for the corresponding federal positions in similar geographic
locations as determined by the directors.  Personnel will be
compensated according to the schedule.

Costs incurred in the regulation of any bank, trust company, or
other corporation will be reviewed at least annually by the
Division of Finance to determine whether regulatory costs are
offset by the fees and charges collected.  The division director
will revise the fees and charges to fully recover these costs.

Any interest earned in the dedicated funds will be used, upon
appropriation, for the expenditures of the divisions in the
succeeding fiscal year and will be applied to reduce the amount
of the annual assessment an institution is charged.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Income on General Revenue Fund of $68,751
in FY 2006, $102,020 in FY 2007, and $104,571 in FY 2008.  No
impact on Other State Funds in FY 2006, FY 2007, and FY 2008.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill will help the state
retain qualified examiners.  After fully training these examiners
for six to eight years, they go to work for the federal
government because of their higher pay.  Because of the high
turnover, there is a risk of losing national accreditation.
Missouri's banks and credit unions support the bill because a
fully trained examiner with eight years of experience can perform
an audit in three days instead of the three weeks that it
normally takes a new examiner which saves time and money.

Testifying for the bill was Senator Crowell; Division of Finance;
Missouri Independent Bankers Association; Missouri Credit Union
Association; Missouri Financial Services Association; Mortgage
Bankers Association of Missouri; Missouri Bankers Association;
and Division of Credit Unions.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Marc Webb, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
93rd General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated August 25, 2005 at 1:21 pm