Fifty-one state bankers associations today wrote to members of the Senate Banking Committee encouraging lawmakers to continue pursuing the goal of bipartisan regulatory reform. The associations called on the committee to include in its overall proposal for regulatory reform several bills that are part of ABA’s Blueprint for Growth, including those that would allow regulators to tailor actions based on banks’ business models and risk profile, revise capital and liquidity requirements and allow mortgage loans held in portfolios to be considered “qualified mortgages.”
In addition, the associations noted that several other legislative proposals for regulatory reform have support on both sides of the aisle, such as a bill to recalibrate the systemic risk designation process and a bill to allow banks to hold municipal bonds and accept municipal deposits. They also called for legislative action on stress testing and the Volcker Rule, both of which were highlighted in the recent Treasury Department report on regulatory reform.
“The cumulative weight of thousands of pages of new regulations and guidance has overwhelmed many of America’s financial institutions, resulting in the loss of 2,800 banks — most of them community banks — in the last decade,” the associations wrote. “It is of the utmost importance that our remaining member banks are able to provide products and services to consumers that are affordable and help grow communities.”
