On July 15, the House Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee approved an appropriations measure that effectively bars the Treasury Department from taking action in fiscal year 2005 on a proposal to allow real estate brokerage powers for banking firms, according to American Banker.

Real estate brokerage is high on the list of new powers sought by the banking industry. But opponents have used the appropriations process on an annual basis to bar the Treasury Department from spending funds to move ahead with a proposal that dates from 2000. However, the subcommittee's action this year was somewhat different. In past years, the ban on Treasury funding for the real estate proposal originated in an amendment. But this year, the prohibition was included in the original text.

The proposal grew out of the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, part of which established a process that allowed new activities for financial holding companies and financial subsidiaries, as long as the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department both approved. In 2000, the Treasury and the Fed asked for comment on whether real estate brokerage should be allowed for financial firms, but the Treasury put the effort on hold as legislation against the effort gathered steam on Capitol Hill.