Covered Bond Legislation: Is the Fourth Time the Charm?

On March 18, 2010, Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ) introduced a covered bond bill for the fourth time since the start of the financial crisis. The latest bill, entitled the United States Covered Bond Act of 2010 (the "Covered Bond Act"), was co-sponsored by Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) and Representative Spencer Bachus (RAL). The Covered Bond Act is similar to the draft amendment to the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (the "Amendment") that Representative Garrett submitted in November 2009 but subsequently withdrew at the request of the House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, and is more complete than the Equal Treatment for Covered Bonds Act that Representative Garrett first introduced in 2008 and reintroduced with Representative Kanjorski's support in June 2009. A copy of the Covered Bond Act is available at http://cmbs.informz.net/cmbs/data/images/garrett-kanjorski-bachus.pdf . A copy of the