The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has released “End Too-Big-To-Fail,” a report that examines the impact of too-big-to-fail financial institutions on the U.S. economy and why too-big-to-fail must be brought to an end now. In the report, ICBA also highlights the Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act of 2013 (TBTF Act, S. 798), introduced by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA), as a valid solution to curb the too-big-to-fail epidemic. The document also addresses common myths and facts about the legislation.Click to continue

Many residents in rural America would have reduced access to mortgage credit despite accommodations included in new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) mortgage rules, according to survey results released by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). ICBA’s Community Bank Qualified Mortgage Survey found that provisions for balloon-payment mortgage loans and rural community banks in the CFPB’s ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage regulations need to go further to adequately protect the customers of many Main Street community bank lenders.Click to continue

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) have announced a new plan, the Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act (TBTF Act), that would prevent any one financial institution from becoming so large and overleveraged that it could put our economy on the brink of collapse or trigger the need for a federal bailout. “Five years ago, risky practices at Wall Street banks puts our economy on the brink of collapse – and jeopardized the savings and pensions of millions of Americans.Click to continue

Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) Chairman Bill Loving, president and CEO of Pendleton Community Bank in Franklin, W.Va., has released this statement following the release of a Rasmussen Reports survey that found that half of all U.S. adults favor breaking up the nation’s largest banks. According to the survey, 50 percent of U.S. adults said they favor a plan to break up the 12 largest megabanks, which control 69 percent of the banking industry. Only 23 percent were opposed to downsizing the too-big-to-fail megabanks.Click to continue

Bill Loving, chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and president and CEO of Pendleton Community Bank in Franklin, W.Va., and Camden R. Fine, president and CEO of ICBA, recently issued a statement following the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report that JPMorgan Chase used federally insured deposits for high-risk trades that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses it hid from regulators and taxpayers.Click to continue

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) recently said that there is mounting evidence that too-big-to-fail financial institutions pose risks to the financial system, enjoy a taxpayer-funded funding advantage over smaller institutions and receive favorable treatment from regulators. To address these and other problems posed by the largest and riskiest financial firms, ICBA believes they should be downsized and split up.Click to continue

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has announced its top legislative and regulatory priorities for the coming year. ICBA made the announcement in Las Vegas at the 2013 National Convention and Techworld, which has attracted more than 3,300 attendees to the largest community banking industry event in the world.Click to continue

Camden R. Fine, president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), has released this statement following recently testimony from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the size of too-big-to-fail financial firms inhibits Justice Department prosecutions on Wall Street. Holder was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.Click to continue

While payments fraud continues to rise, community banks are using technological solutions and staff training to reduce fraud losses, according to survey results released today by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). The study, which was conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, found that half of community banks said fraud increased in 2011 compared to the year before.Click to continue

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) emphasized to policymakers that the regulatory burden facing community banks has risen sharply in recent years, saying that an astounding 900 new rules and proposed rules affecting the banking industry have been entered into the Federal Register since 2007 alone.Click to continue