ICBA to Congress: Community Banks Are Not Wells Fargo

ICBA urged Congress to keep in mind the differences between community banks and megabanks as lawmakers consider any legislative response to Wells Fargo’s massive consumer fraud. In a letter to members of Congress, ICBA called for targeted regulatory relief for community banks to promote consumer choice in financial services. “Community bankers are gravely concerned that the legislative and regulatory reaction to Wells Fargo will again fail to distinguish between too-big-to-manage banks and community banks,” ICBA President and CEO Cam Fine wrote. “Costly, unnecessary new requirements would only hamper community banks’ ability to serve their customers and further drive consolidation and concentration of the nation’s financial resources.” On the same day that Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf testified at a fiery Senate Banking Committee hearing, ICBA wrote that community bankers are outraged by the scandal and operate a relationship-based business model at odds with the megabank’s transaction-based approach. ICBA noted that Congress should avoid the kinds of overreaching laws and regulations enacted after the recent financial crisis while continuing to advance tailored regulatory relief for community banks. “Such legislation is before Congress today, and its momentum should not be stalled by the fraud at Wells Fargo,” Fine wrote. “Fix what’s wrong with American financial services by strengthening what’s right with it—community banks.”  ---ICBA News