Community banks have led effort for call report relief
Washington, D.C. (Aug. 5, 2016)—The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) today said it is encouraged by a new regulatory proposal to ease quarterly reporting burdens for community banks. While ICBA looks forward to closely reviewing the details of the proposal, a streamlined call report would allow many community banks to devote more of their resources to their customers and communities.
“ICBA is encouraged that regulators have proposed call report relief for community banks, and we look forward to reviewing details of the proposal,” ICBA President and CEO Camden R. Fine said. “The quarterly call report is among the many excessively burdensome regulations limiting the ability of community banks to support local jobs and economic growth. A streamlined report would provide sufficient information for regulators while being significantly less burdensome to prepare for community banks nationwide.”
Today’s Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) proposal comes nearly two years after ICBA met with the FFIEC to deliver a petition with nearly 15,000 signatures urging call report relief. ICBA’s petition cites data from the 2014 Call Report Survey Results, which found that the annual cost of preparing the call report has increased for 86 percent of respondents over the past 10 years.
ICBA continues to advocate a short-form call report for community banks. According to ICBA’s survey, 98 percent of respondents said a short-form call report would reduce their regulatory burden, and 72 percent said the reduction would be “substantial.”
ICBA will continue working with regulators to expand call report relief and with Congress to advance legislation that would implement a short-form call report, a key provision of ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity legislative platform. ICBA-advocated call report reforms are included in the Community Bank Reporting Relief Act (H.R. 4500), the CLEAR Relief Act (H.R. 1233/S. 812), the CLEAR Relief Plus Act (S. 927), the Financial Regulatory Improvement Act (S. 1484), and the House Financial Services Committee’s Financial CHOICE Act discussion draft.
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.
