The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) applauded the House of Representatives for today’s bipartisan passage of its amended housing relief bill, which includes several ICBA-advocated community bank regulatory reforms and promotes housing affordability.
“ICBA and the nation’s community banks strongly support bipartisan House passage of the amended housing bill, which includes pro-community bank regulatory reforms that will help spur home construction and alleviate the housing crisis,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said. “We thank House leadership and House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill and Ranking Member Maxine Waters for prioritizing this bipartisan legislation, and we encourage the Senate to pass it.”
The amended House bill includes provisions supported by ICBA and state community banking groups to:
- Help community banks maintain lower funding costs by allowing them to hold custodial deposits and more reciprocal deposits without them being considered brokered deposits, which are subject to restrictions.
- Provide an 18-month exam cycle and other exam relief for banks with up to $6 billion in assets, allowing more community banks to direct more resources toward serving their communities.
- Promote the formation of de novo community banks by streamlining the application process.
- Create a two-year pilot program to promote the creation of de novo banks, especially in rural areas, by providing more regulatory, capital, and lending flexibility for these banks.
- Establish a Treasury Financial Agent program enabling partnerships between minority depository institutions, rural community banks, and other financial institutions.
Today’s legislative package contains many items advanced in ICBA’s open letter to the 119th Congress and in Romero Rainey’s testimony last year at the House Financial Services Committee’s first hearing of the 119th Congress. ICBA looks forward to continuing to work with Congress and the administration to pass these important measures.