Independent Community Bankers of America's website. (Source: Adobe Stock)
Community bankers are virtually flooding Capitol Hill this week, pushing plans to eliminate the credit union tax exemption, include credit unions in the Community Reinvestment Act and toughen oversight by the NCUA.
But beyond the usual anti-credit union rhetoric, the policy agenda being circulated during the Independent Community Bankers of America's "2021 Capital Summit" is not that much different than proposals from CUNA and NAFCU.
Recommended For You
"Community banks have been the economic foundation of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic in local communities," ICBA Chairman Robert Fisher, who is president/CEO of Tioga State Bank in Spencer, N.Y., said. "With community banks continuing to account for 60% of Paycheck Protection Program lending, ICBA's policy resolutions will guide us as we continue working to help local communities thrive."
As with CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference earlier this year, the ICBA is urging bankers to hold virtual meetings with members of Congress and their staffs. And ICBA officials are asking bankers to implore Congress "to address the abuses of the credit union industry's federal tax subsidy and investigate the NCUA's failure to properly regulate and oversee the industry."
In its policy agenda, the ICBA said the NCUA "stands in stark contrast to the other banking agencies" in the quality of its oversight of credit unions. The trade group went in to state it opposes expanded powers for credit unions, including "acquisitions of community banks, commercial lending, field of membership and supplemental capital powers."
The ICBA said it also is urging states to prohibit the placement of public funds in tax exempt credit unions.
The ICBA's policy agenda looked almost identical to those developed by credit union trade groups. For instance, the ICBA is similarly calling for:
- Tiered regulation for community banks.
- Legislation to give the CFPB additional authority to exempt or tier regulatory requirements for community banks, including exempting banks with $50 billion or less in assets from CFPB examination and enforcement. The trade group also said the single-director agency should be replaced with a five-member commission.
- An exemption for community bank reporting of small business lending.
- A national data security standard that is as strict as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley standard that financial services providers must follow.
- Opposition to postal banking.
- Support of legislation that would provide a safe harbor to financial institutions providing services to marijuana-related businesses in states where cannabis is legal.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
