In a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen yesterday, Sens. Mike Crapo (R- Idaho) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) called for regulators to provide simpler capital rules and reporting requirements for community banks through the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reductions Act process, a decennial review now winding down. The lawmakers encouraged the Fed to reconsider the necessity of having four minimum capital requirements, the capital conservation buffer and the complex definition of tier 1 capital. They also raised concerns about the increased time required to complete the quarterly Call Reports.
Former Fed chairs stress need for independent central bank
The Federal Reserve’s independence and the public’s perception of that independence are critical for U.S. economic performance, a group of former Treasury secretaries and Fed chairs, including Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan, said in a joint statement.
