S.Amdt. 4117

SA 4117. Mr. LEAHY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3794 submitted by Mr. Leahy (for himself, Mr. Grassley, and Mr. Specter, and Mr. Kaufman) and intended to be proposed 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 6, strike line 24 and all that follows through page 11, line 8, and insert the following:

(c) Amendments to the False Claims Act Relating to Limitations on Actions.--Section 3730(h) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “or agent on behalf of the employee, contractor, or agent or associated others in furtherance of other efforts to stop 1 or more violations of this subchapter” and inserting “agent or associated others in furtherance of an action under this section or other efforts to stop 1 or more violations of this subchapter”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(3) Limitation on bringing civil action.--A civil action under this subsection may not be brought more than 3 years after the date when the retaliation occurred.”.

(d) Promoting Criminal Accountability.--

(1) Definitions.--In this subsection, the terms “Bureau”, “consumer financial product or service”, “designated transfer date”, and “Federal consumer financial law” have the meanings given those terms in section 1002.

(2) Notice and coordination.--

(A) Notice of other actions.--In addition to any notice required under section 1054(d), the Bureau shall notify the Attorney General concerning any action, suit, or proceeding to which the Bureau is a party, except an action, suit, or proceeding that involves the offering or provision of consumer financial products or services.

(B) Coordination.--In order to avoid conflicts and promote consistency regarding litigation of matters under Federal law, the Attorney General and the Bureau shall consult regarding the coordination of investigations and proceedings, including by negotiating an agreement for coordination by not later than 180 days after the designated transfer date. The agreement under this subparagraph shall include provisions to ensure that parallel investigations and proceedings involving the Federal consumer financial laws are conducted in a manner that avoids conflicts and does not impede the ability of the Attorney General to prosecute violations of Federal criminal laws.

(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit the authority of the Bureau under title X, including the authority to interpret Federal consumer financial law.