07/16/2014

ICBA’s Vallandingham: Rein in Government Overreach and Regulation

Sam Vallandingham, president and CEO of The First State Bank in Barboursville, W.Va., on behalf of ICBA, called on Congress to pass legislation to rein in excessive government regulations that are inhibiting economic growth, including legislation to rein in the Justice Department’s Operation Choke Point initiative. In a House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit hearing on Tuesday, Vallandingham emphasized the call for tiered regulations that are tailored to the size and complexity of financial institutions.

“The role of community banks in advancing and sustaining the recovery is jeopardized by the increasing expense and distraction of regulation drastically out of proportion to any risk we pose,” Vallandingham said. “Community banks didn’t cause the recent financial crisis, and we should not bear the weight of new, overreaching regulation intended to address it.”

Vallandingham also highlighted several ICBA-advocated measures including:

•    the End Operation Choke Point Act of 2014 (H.R. 4986), which would rein in the Justice Department’s abusive use of subpoena authority and help preserve the ability of banks to serve legal and legitimate business customers without undue pressure from law enforcement or examiners,

•    the Community Bank Mortgage Servicing Asset Capital Requirements Study Act of 2014 (H.R. 4042), which would require the banking regulators to stop and study ill-conceived Basel III mortgage-servicing rules scheduled to take effect in less than six months, and

•    draft legislation to exempt certain loans held in portfolio from new appraisal requirements to promote the continued flow of mortgage credit to moderate-income borrowers and strengthen the housing recovery.