Ahead of House vote, ICBA urges support for community bank reg relief

Ahead of House vote, ICBA urges support for community bank reg relief

ICBA urged members of Congress to pass the Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) and called for grassroots action from community bankers ahead of next week’s vote.

Details: In a letter to House members, ICBA said H.R. 6644—which includes ICBA-advocated community bank regulatory relief provisions—would promote housing affordability and help alleviate the housing crisis.

Highlights: The bill includes ICBA-advocated provisions to:

• Allow community banks to hold custodial deposits and more reciprocal deposits without them being considered brokered deposits.

• Provide an 18-month exam cycle and other exam relief for banks with up to $6 billion in assets.

• Promote the formation of de novo community banks by streamlining the application process and providing for review of capital raising.

• Create a two-year pilot program to promote the creation of de novo banks, especially in rural areas, by providing more regulatory, capital, and lending flexibility for these banks.

• Establish a Treasury Financial Agent program enabling partnerships between minority depository institutions, rural community banks, and other financial institutions.

• Require the federal banking agencies to study improving the growth, capital adequacy, and profitability of rural depository institutions.

Grassroots Effort Needed: Community bankers can urge their members of Congress to vote yes on the legislation by using ICBA’s Be Heard grassroots action center.

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