2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB3804
HB3804 tightens the wording of an exemption for an existing state-bank controller buying more voting securities, extends a supervised bank’s dividend restriction beyond cash dividends, and updates a money-services reference.
Official caption: Relating to the regulation of state banks.
Official report lists House author(s): Lambert. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- HB3804 tightens the wording of an exemption for an existing state-bank controller buying more voting securities, extends a supervised bank’s dividend restriction beyond cash dividends, and updates a money-services reference.
- Buying additional control: Ordinarily, acquiring an interest that gives someone control of a state bank requires the banking commissioner’s prior written approval.
- Control under Section 33.001(b) generally includes the principal shareholder with a greater percentage of voting power than any other shareholder, subject to applicable rules.
- Dividends under supervision: When a bank is under a formal supervision order, the restriction now covers a dividend, not just a cash dividend.
- Deposit definition: The act changes the exclusion for obligations under the money-services law from Finance Code Chapter 151 to Chapter 152, the Money Services Modernization Act.
What does it do?
HB3804 tightens the wording of an exemption for an existing state-bank controller buying more voting securities, extends a supervised bank’s dividend restriction beyond cash dividends, and updates a money-services reference. It took effect immediately on June 20, 2025. Final law.
Buying additional control: Ordinarily, acquiring an interest that gives someone control of a state bank requires the banking commissioner’s prior written approval. Under the revised existing-controller exemption, the buyer must have been identified as a controlling person of that bank in a prior approved application, and must also have continuously held either at least 25% of a class of voting securities or control under Section 33.001(b) since that approval. The prior wording listed these conditions separately with “or”; the new text makes prior approval plus continuing control explicit. The commissioner can still provide otherwise in writing. Control rule and exemptions.
Control under Section 33.001(b) generally includes the principal shareholder with a greater percentage of voting power than any other shareholder, subject to applicable rules. The exemption is therefore not simply “anyone holding 25% can buy without approval.” Other existing exemptions—for example, specified debt recoveries, inheritance and qualifying holding-company transactions—remain subject to their own conditions.
Dividends under supervision: When a bank is under a formal supervision order, the restriction now covers a dividend, not just a cash dividend. The existing qualifications remain: prior approval by the commissioner or supervisor, and what the supervision order otherwise permits or restricts. This does not ban all dividends by every Texas bank. Supervision is a regulatory intervention based on a hazardous condition, not a synonym for ordinary routine oversight. Supervision authority and restrictions.
Deposit definition: The act changes the exclusion for obligations under the money-services law from Finance Code Chapter 151 to Chapter 152, the Money Services Modernization Act. It does not rewrite every part of the banking-law deposit definition or create a new deposit-insurance guarantee. Updated definition.
What changed along the way?
The introduced, House-report, engrossed, Senate-report and final operative provisions match. The amendment index reports no amendments, and both committees reported the bill without amendments. Version index.
The House passed it 135–0 with two present but not voting; the Senate passed it 31–0. The governor signed it June 20, 2025. Those votes qualified it for immediate effect. Official history.
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Regulators and people relying on bank safety may benefit from clearer control-approval requirements and review of noncash distributions by supervised banks. Existing controllers and supervised banks must account for the revised limits when planning acquisitions or dividends. The law does not promise a measurable reduction in bank failures or a payment to depositors.
The May 9 fiscal note, like the introduced note, expects no significant state or local fiscal impact. It explains that the Department of Banking pays its own operating costs as a self-directed, semi-independent agency and cannot impose a cost on General Revenue. It does not estimate transaction-specific compliance costs or shareholder returns.
Review boundary: This describes state-law changes, not approval of a particular acquisition, a finding that a bank is under supervision, or a complete account of separate federal banking requirements.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.
