Urges Concerned Lawmakers to Pass Pending Regulatory Relief Bills
Washington, D.C. (July 19, 2016)—The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) today commended a letter from 70 U.S. senators urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to tailor its regulations to match the unique nature of community banks. The letter, led by Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), calls on the CFPB to consider the impact of its rules on the community-based lenders that reinvest local dollars in their communities and help small businesses create jobs.
“ICBA has long pushed for community bank relief from excessive regulatory burdens at the CFPB and other agencies to support economic growth in Main Street communities,” ICBA President and CEO Camden R. Fine said. “We fully support and appreciate the efforts of these 70 senators to press for common-sense regulations tailored to the smaller and less complex institutions that did not cause the financial crisis. Both Congress and the regulators have the power to provide much-needed regulatory burden relief to support economic growth.”
ICBA works closely with the CFPB and other agencies on regulations to ensure community banks can continue to offer relationship banking and lending tailored to the needs of local customers and communities. For instance, the association achieved a recent interim final rule easing mortgage restrictions on many small creditors to mitigate the negative impact on local mortgage lending. However, ICBA continues working to advance its Plan for Prosperity legislative platform with numerous provisions to promote lending and economic growth by easing unnecessary regulations on community banks.
The Plan for Prosperity includes provisions to relieve community banks from certain mortgage rules to support the housing recovery, exempt more local banks from CFPB examination and enforcement, and reform CFPB governance to ensure more balanced regulation. ICBA-advocated bills pending in Congress include the CLEAR Relief Act (S. 812/H.R. 1233), the Community Bank Access to Capital Act (H.R. 1523/S. 1816), the CFPB Examination and Reporting Threshold Act (H.R. 4099/S. 482) and the TAILOR Act (H.R. 2896/S. 3153).
About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America®, the nation’s voice for more than 6,000 community banks of all sizes and charter types, is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education and high-quality products and services.
