Cash Discount Act

(Reported to Senate from the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with amendment, S. Rept. 96-923)

=Title I: Bank Holding Company Act Amendment = - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to prohibit bank holding companies and their subsidiaries from selling insurance as principals, agents, or brokers, except: (1) where the insurance secures an extension of credit in the event of death, disability, or involuntary employment of the debtor; (2) where the insurance is declining balance credit property insurance, sold by a subsidiary finance company, to protect against loss or damage to collateral securing an extension of credit of $10,000 or less (or $25,000 in the case of credit financing the purchase of a residential manufactured home) adjusted by the Consumer Price Index with 1980 as the base year; (3) any insurance agency activity in a community of less than 5,000 which has inadequate insurance agency facilities; (4) any insurance agency activity engaged in by a bank holding company or a subsidiary on June 12, 1980; (5) certain supervisory activity over agents who sell insurance covering a holding company's property and employees; and (6) any insurance agency activity, except the sale of unauthorized life insurance or annuities, conducted by a bank holding company or its subsidiary which has less than $50,000,000 in total assets.

=Title II: National Consumer Usury Commission= - Establishes a National Consumer Usury Commission within the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to study and report to the President and Congress on the effects of State usury ceilings, the correlation between interest rates and credit availability, and alternatives to such ceilings. Sets forth the membership on and powers of such Commission.

Extends by one year (until February 27, 1982) the prohibition against surcharges on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card in lieu of cash payment.

=Title III: Cash Discount Act= - Cash Discount Act - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to provide that any discount given by a seller to a buyer to induce payment in case or by other means not involving an open end credit plan or a credit card shall not constitute a finance charge, if such discount is offered, and the availability is disclosed, to all prospective buyers. Repeals requirements that such a discount not exceed five percent. Defines "regular price" as: (1) the single posted price; or (2) the price paid using an open end credit plan or a credit card if no price is posted or two prices are posted. Voids any regulation by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors which limited such cash discounts.

=Title IV: Miscellaneous= - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act and the Federal Credit Union Act to authorize the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the National Credit Union Administration Board, in consultation with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, to interpret the pricing principles for services for their respective institutions.

Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, the National Housing Act, and the Federal Credit Union Act to provide insurance for the full amount of public funds deposited in insured banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions. Repeals the restriction on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's authority to limit the aggregate amount of funds that may be deposited in insured banks.

Permits national banks to hold real property nominally valued on December 31, 1979, for five years from enactment of this Act.