ABA Urges Grassroots Action in Advance of OCC Mutual Meeting

The OCC’s Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting this morning in Washington, D.C. The committee — all 10 members of which represent ABA member banks — advises the OCC about mutual banks, assesses their current condition, and offers feedback on regulatory changes affecting mutuals’ health and viability.

ABA last week wrote to the committee to express its support for two bills — H.R. 1660 and H.R. 1661 — that would make it easier for mutual banks and thrift institutions to serve their customers. Thanking the OCC for its leadership in developing legislative proposals to assist mutuals and thrifts, ABA urged “OCC and mutual bankers to support passage of these important pieces of legislation.”

Meanwhile, Richard Holbrook — chairman and CEO of Eastern Bank Corp., Boston, and chairman of ABA’s Mutual Institutions Council — wrote to mutual bankers last week urging them to express support for the bills using ABA’s grassroots alert. “It is going to be up to each of us, the mutuals that this legislation directly affects, to make sure our voices are heard,” Holbrook said. “If we don’t speak up for this bill, no one will.”