Washington, D.C. (June 28, 2023) — Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey issued the following statement on Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman’s recent remarks on responsive and responsible bank regulation and supervision.
“ICBA and the nation’s community banks commend Governor Bowman for calling on policymakers to ensure any new regulatory capital standards target the largest and riskiest financial institutions. Speaking in Salzburg, Austria, Bowman expressed concerns that applying new regulatory reforms to institutions under $100 billion in assets would shield the largest banks from facing new competition, lead to further bank consolidation, harm the nation’s tiered banking system, and officially designate a handful of banks as too big to fail.
“Governor Bowman’s remarks help demonstrate why federal regulators including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg, and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr have said — including in congressional testimony — that new regulatory capital standards will target banks with more than $100 billion in assets and will not affect community banks.
“As the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York demonstrated, community banks operate a vastly different model than large financial institutions, and any regulatory reforms designed to rein in large bank risk should not be applied to community banks. Policymakers should ensure that any changes to the capital framework are tailored to appropriately distinguish large banks that pose systemic risk to the financial system from the thousands of local community banks that serve consumers and small businesses.
“ICBA will continue working with policymakers to ensure Washington’s policy response does not affect the community banks that continue to appropriately manage risk and do right by their customers and communities.”
About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America® creates and promotes an environment where community banks flourish. ICBA 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.
With nearly 50,000 locations nationwide, community banks constitute roughly 99 percent of all banks, employ nearly 700,000 Americans and are the only physical banking presence in one in three U.S. counties. Holding nearly $5.9 trillion in assets, over $4.9 trillion in deposits, and more than $3.5 trillion in loans to consumers, small businesses and the agricultural community, community banks channel local deposits into the Main Streets and neighborhoods they serve, spurring job creation, fostering innovation and fueling their customers’ dreams in communities throughout America. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at www.icba.org.
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