Washington, D.C. (Dec. 20, 2018)—The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA)® today thanked a bipartisan group of 19 senators for calling on banking regulators to revisit their proposed rule implementing call report relief for community banks. In a letter led by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), the lawmakers said the proposal would have little impact on eligible community banks and the communities they serve.

“ICBA thanks Sen. Jerry Moran and his Senate colleagues for highlighting this important issue with regulators so they understand the positive impact that meaningful relief from quarterly reporting burdens would have on the community banking industry,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said. “Under the S. 2155 regulatory relief law, Congress and the president required the agencies to institute a short-form call report to provide tangible regulatory relief to community banks. Unfortunately for consumers and small businesses, the proposed rule barely moves the needle in reducing unnecessary reporting burdens that inhibit lending and economic growth. More needs to be done.”

An ICBA-advocated provision in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) establishes a short-form call report in the first and third quarters for banks with less than $5 billion in assets while requiring them to continue to file the full report at mid-year and year-end. However, the agencies project that their proposed rule to implement the provision would reduce reporting burdens by just 1.18 hours for institutions under $1 billion.

ICBA continues calling on regulators to provide meaningful relief by limiting short-form reporting to the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of changes in shareholders’ equity without any other supporting schedules. Creating a simple but effective short-form call report will free up employees and other resources that should be used to serve community bank customers and Main Street communities.

The senators joining Sen. Moran on today’s letter are Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), Jodi Ernst (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Tom Cotton (R-Okla.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), John Thune (R-S.D.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America^® creates and promotes an environment where community banks flourish. With more than 52,000 locations nationwide, community banks constitute 99 percent of all banks, employ more than 760,000 Americans and are the only physical banking presence in one in five U.S. counties. Holding more than $4.9 trillion in assets, $3.9 trillion in deposits, and $3.4 trillion in loans to consumers, small businesses and the agricultural community, community banks channel local deposits into the Main Streets and neighborhoods they serve, spurring job creation, fostering innovation and fueling their customers’ dreams in communities throughout America. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at www.icba.org.

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