Independent Community Bankers of America supports Community Bank Relief Act

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) recently expressed its support for the Community Bank Relief Act sponsored by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Angus King (I-ME) and Bill Nelson (D-FL), which seeks to expand lending opportunities for community banks.

Specifically, the bill would raise the consolidated assets threshold under the Federal Reserve’s Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement from $1 billion to $5 billion.

“ICBA strongly supports this legislation from Sens. Hatch, King and Nelson to promote additional lending on Main Street by improving community bank and thrift access to capital,” ICBA President and CEO Camden Fine said. “ICBA and the nation’s community bankers strongly encourage the Senate to enact this important legislation to continue advancing tiered and proportional community bank regulation.”

It is one of the provisions on ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity regulatory relief platform.

The threshold was raised from $500 million to $1 billion in December 2014 following ICBA advocacy, but the association has long held that it should be significantly higher to recognize the larger average asset size of today’s community banks.

The Small Bank Holding Company Relief Act, companion legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), would raise the asset threshold to $10 billion, as would House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer’s (R-MO) CLEAR Relief Act.