The American Bankers Association today encouraged federal banking agencies to use a legally required review of their regulations to provide meaningful relief for banks, which would enable them to better serve their customers.
The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act, or EGRPRA, requires the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and bank regulators to review their regulations every 10 years to identify any outdated or otherwise unnecessary regulatory requirements. The agencies have divided the two-year review into 12 subject areas, with the most recent round focusing on regulations concerning consumer protection; directors, officers and employees; and money laundering.
In a letter to the agencies, ABA said it is focusing on removing unnecessary regulatory burdens, “a priority shared by both regulators and the banking industry.” It proposed several reforms from the subject areas currently under review, including flood insurance, FDIC signage and Bank Secrecy Act reforms.
“The regulatory burden on banks increased significantly under Dodd-Frank, which nearly doubled the number of regulations for U.S. banks and added approximately $50 billion in annual compliance costs for the industry,” ABA said, referring to the 2010 law. “Following Dodd-Frank, smaller banks faced particularly steep increases in salary expenses and significant rises in costs related to auditing, consulting, data processing and legal fees.”
