WASHINGTON—It isn’t just credit unions lobbying Congress and the administration for regulatory relief.
A group of community bankers from the Independent Community Bankers of America met with President Donald Trump and other senior officials at the White House to discuss the “targeted regulatory relief” the bankers are seeking.
Among those meeting with President Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Chairman Gary Cohn and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, were ICBA President and CEO Camden R. Fine; ICBA Chairman Rebeca Romero Rainey, chairman and CEO of Centinel Bank of Taos, N.M.; ICBA Chairman-Elect R. Scott Heitkamp, president and CEO of ValueBank Texas in Corpus Christi, Texas, and ICBA Vice Chairman Timothy K. Zimmerman, president and CEO of Standard Bank in Monroeville, Penn.
The group said it “shared specific examples of how excessive regulatory burdens affect their ability to serve their customers, make loans and create jobs at the local level. They also discussed ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity, a pro-growth platform to eliminate onerous regulatory burdens on community banks that inhibit lending and innovation. The comprehensive platform includes provisions to cut regulatory red tape, improve access to capital, strengthen accountability in bank exams, incentivize credit in rural America and more.”
In a released statement, the ICBA did not identify the specific regulations it is seeking to have scaled back.
“The nation’s community bankers are committed to serving local consumers and small businesses and fostering economic and job growth from the ground up,” Romero Rainey said. “However, one-size-fits-all regulations are imposing unnecessary burdens on community banks that stifle lending and growth in local communities. ICBA looks forward to continuing to work with President Trump, his administration and Congress to advance common-sense regulatory relief that will support communities nationwide.”