Community Banker Alert

Another day, another reason to call and email your Congressman! Section 611 of the Senate passed version of the financial regulatory reform bill (S. 3217) would subject state-chartered banks to national lending limits on loans to any one borrower as a percentage of their capital. Section 611 is now a part of H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, that is currently in conference. Section 611 would remove from state regulators - who are better able to judge the unique circumstances of their state economies - the discretion they have exercised for decades over lending limits for state-chartered institutions. A national, one-size-fits-all approach to lending limits would restrict lending in the 20 states that have set their limits above the national limit, and restrict the flexibility of all states to set their own limits. Section 611, if unamended, would reduce competition, reduce lending, and benefit the largest banks.

Please reach out to your Senators and Representative and ask them to make sure that this is addressed in conference. Make sure they know that state-chartered community banks unable to serve their best customers due to the newly imposed national limits, would lose those customers to mega-banks with larger capital bases that are little affected by the limits. The link below will take you to ICBA's Action Center, from which you can send the email.

http://www.capwiz.com/icba/issues/alert/?alertid=15146026

Thank you.