Romero Rainey: ICBA support for special assessment exemplifies its mission

ICBA’s support for the FDIC’s proposed special assessment exemption for community banks illustrates its unique mission, ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey wrote in a new blog post.

New Blog Post: In a post shared on ICBA’s Main Street Matters blog and on LinkedIn, Romero Rainey noted that while ICBA strongly endorsed the community bank exemption, groups representing larger banks were neutral on the FDIC’s approach to calculating an assessment base or outright opposed to the agency’s methodology.

ICBA Mission: “As we move forward in support of the FDIC’s special assessment policy, know that ICBA has your back, community bankers,” Romero Rainey wrote. “We won’t waiver, and we will not take nuanced or neutral positions on the issues that matter the most to you because we have one mission at ICBA—to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish.”

ICBA Comments: In its comment letter last week, ICBA expressed strong support for exempting community banks under $5 billion in assets from the special assessment and urged the FDIC to finalize the rule as proposed.

Grassroots Campaign: Meanwhile, community bankers responded in force to ICBA’s grassroots advocacy campaign. Of the roughly 232 comment letters submitted to the agency on its proposed rule, more than 80% came from ICBA members, all of which expressed support for the proposal.

READ MORE