Romero Rainey: ICBA fighting for community banks

ICBA continues to distinguish community banks from larger and riskier financial institutions among policymakers and the news media in the wake of recent large bank failures, ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in a weekend alert to community bankers.

Policy Pushback: Romero Rainey cited her recent appearance on Fox News, in which she reiterated community banks shouldn’t have to pay any special assessment to the Deposit Insurance Fund to cover uninsured deposits at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Further, ICBA’s denunciation of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s statement that uninsured deposits will be protected only at systemically risky institutions has been covered in Politico Morning Money and elsewhere.

Community Bank Differentiation: Meanwhile, ICBA has continued to differentiate the relationship-based community bank business model on Bloomberg TV, NTD Television, and other outlets. Those appearances followed ICBA’s national news release clarifying that community banks operate under an entirely different business model than the nation’s largest banks. ICBA will continue sharing its media coverage on its social channels, including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Key Policy View: ICBA’s key policy message: Treasury and the federal regulators should not be rewriting the deposit insurance system on the fly to pick winners and losers in the banking system. “If policymakers decide to provide unlimited deposit insurance to some institutions, they cannot leave others out—certainly not the community banks that have, as always, operated on a safe and sound basis,” Romero Rainey said.

Ongoing Efforts: In her alert, Romero Rainey said ICBA will continue:

• Leading the opposition to any efforts to rope community banks into the policy response to recent bank closures, including by providing updated talking points and grassroots resources as developments continue to unfold.

• Spreading ICBA’s message to consumers that community banks are safe, sound, and secure institutions that do right by their customers, support local communities, and should be treated as such by policymakers in Washington.

READ MORE