The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) testified before Congress last week on how regulations on community banks are stifling economic growth.
Speaking on behalf of ICBA, Robert Fisher, president and CEO of Tioga State Bank in Spencer, New York, advocated for key provisions of ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity regulatory relief platform to expand credit availability and mitigate rapid consolidation in the banking industry.
“I’m a fifth-generation community banker who’s proud to carry on our commitment to local prosperity. Many of the communities we serve depend on us as the only financial institution with a local presence,” Fisher said before the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.
“Like thousands of other community banks across the country, Tioga State Bank provides services that cannot be duplicated by banks that operate from outside the community. We strongly encourage this committee to build on your strong record of regulatory relief by advancing legislation I will discuss today,” Fisher said.
Fisher outlined several recommendations from ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity including expanding relief from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting mandates. He also suggested providing automatic “qualified mortgage” status for community bank portfolio loans, easing escrow and appraisal requirements for community bank portfolio lenders, addressing needed reciprocal deposit reform, and
repealing new small-business-loan data-collection requirements for small financial institutions.
Fisher encouraged the committee to take up and advance the CLEAR Relief Act (H.R. 2133), the Financial Institutions Due Process Act (H.R. 924), the Clarifying Commercial Real Estate Loans Act (H.R. 2148) and the Access to Affordable Mortgages Act.