In a long-awaited rulemaking, the FDIC today voted to propose that community banks with a leverage capital ratio of at least 9 percent may be automatically considered in compliance with Basel III capital requirements and exempt from the complex Basel calculations.

An estimated 80 percent of community banks will be exempt from complex risk-based capital under the yet-to-be-announced community bank leverage ratio, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams said at a community banking symposium hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago today.

Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee today, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles noted that “the banking sector remains in strong condition… with lending growth, fewer nonperforming loans and strong overall profitability.”

The Federal Reserve on Friday released a report on its regulatory and supervisory activities for banking companies demonstrating the health and safety of the banking industry.

As the Federal Reserve works on finalizing its “stress capital buffer” proposal and makes continued refinements to the overall stress testing and capital planning regime, Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles today outlined several areas where the Fed governors are working to refine the process -- many of which align with recommendations made by ABA.

The Federal Reserve today issued its highly anticipated proposed framework for applying enhanced prudential standards to banking firms with $100 billion or more in assets, as required by S. 2155, the regulatory reform law.

The FDIC is pivoting to focus on innovation and simplicity in supervision, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams told attendees at ABA’s Annual Convention in New York today.

In the more than eight years since the Dodd-Frank Act passed, just 13 new U.S. banks have been chartered -- and in some years, no new banks have been chartered at all. ABA Chairman Ken Burgess, who co-founded FirstCapital Bank of Texas as a de novo two decades ago, is concerned about these numbers.

Financial regulators will issue by year-end their proposal exempting highly capitalized community banks from the Basel III capital calculations, as directed by S. 2155, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams told members of the Senate Banking Committee today.

In an American Banker op-ed today, ABA EVP Wayne Abernathy and VP Hugh Carney explain why it’s time for regulators to assess and calibrate capital requirements for banks of all sizes.