Washington, D.C. (June 12, 2017)—The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) welcomes today’s Treasury Department report advocating targeted regulatory relief to support the nation’s community banks and the communities and rural areas they serve. The report, directed by an executive order signed by President Trump in February, offers a comprehensive response to excessive regulatory burdens to help community banks promote economic and job growth in local communities nationwide.
“ICBA supports the commitment that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the Trump administration have shown to advancing regulatory relief that will allow the nation’s community banks to spur economic prosperity,” ICBA President and CEO Camden R. Fine said today. “Following the recent community banker meetings at the White House and Treasury Department and amid ongoing efforts by Congress to address community bank overregulation, we have an opportunity to advance substantial reforms that will increase community-based lending and promote a more robust economic recovery.”
Today’s Treasury report includes numerous provisions from ICBA’s “Community Bank Regulatory Relief: A Roadmap to Economic Growth and Prosperity” white paper. The white paper, which complements ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity regulatory relief platform, offers solutions to bolster economic growth through tiered community bank regulations. It includes provisions to strengthen community bank mortgage lending, ease commercial lending rules that harm small businesses and farms, and refocus Basel III capital rules on the largest financial firms.
ICBA released the white paper following an April 5 Treasury Department meeting with community bankers in Washington, which featured a discussion of how federal policymakers can address the impact of overregulation on community banks and the customers they serve. That meeting preceded a White House meeting of more than 100 community bankers with President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon during the ICBA Capital Summit on May 1.
ICBA looks forward to continuing to work with the Trump administration, Congress and federal banking regulators to advance pro-growth regulatory relief for community banks and the customers and communities they serve.
About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America®, the nation’s voice for more than 5,800 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. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at www.icba.org.
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