S.Amdt. 3735

SA 3735. Mr. CARDIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 3217, to promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end “too big to fail”, to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 1014, between lines 5 and 6, insert the following:

SEC. 989C. CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMANDS.

(a) Equal Credit Opportunity Act.--Section 706(h) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691e(h)) is amended--

(1) by inserting “(1)” after “(h)”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(2) If the Attorney General has reason to believe that any person may be in possession, custody, or control of any documentary material or information relevant to an investigation under this title, the Attorney General may, before commencing a civil proceeding under this subsection, issue in writing and cause to be served upon the person, a civil investigative demand. The authority to issue and enforce civil investigative demands under this paragraph shall be identical to the authority of the Attorney General under section 3733 of title 31, United States Code, except that the provisions of that section relating to qui tam realtors shall not apply.”.

(b) Fair Housing Act.--Section 814(c) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3614(c)) is amended--

(1) by striking “The Attorney General” and inserting the following:

“(1) In general.--The Attorney General”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(2) Civil investigative demands.--If the Attorney General has reason to believe that any person may be in possession, custody, or control of any documentary material or information relevant to an investigation under this title, the Attorney General may, before commencing a civil proceeding under this section, issue in writing and cause to be served upon the person, a civil investigative demand. The authority to issue and enforce civil investigative demands under this paragraph shall be identical to the authority of the Attorney General under section 3733 of title 31, United States Code, except that the provisions of that section relating to qui tam realtors shall not apply.”.