Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey has expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump for his executive order that halts new federal rulemakings. This move is seen as a positive step by ICBA and the nation's community banks, who believe that recalibrating the regulatory environment is necessary due to overly burdensome banking rules that they claim are hindering economic growth in local communities.
Rainey stated, "ICBA and the nation's community banks thank President Donald Trump for his executive order freezing new federal rulemakings. Recalibrating the regulatory environment is long overdue, with excessively burdensome banking rules hindering economic growth in local communities."
She further emphasized the potential for significant improvements in financial services policy with the current administration and Congress. "With the Trump administration and new Congress offering a historic opportunity to make significant improvements to financial services policy, ICBA’s ‘Repair, Reform, and Thrive’ plan and our recent open letter to the 119th Congress outline comprehensive reforms that address our most pressing policy challenges," she said.
The ICBA's plan aims to fix regulations that they see as harmful to communities while empowering locally based banking institutions. "ICBA’s plan offers a regulatory and legislative agenda to fix broken regulations harming communities, unleash the power of locally based banking, and fuel the future of community banking," Rainey added.
Rainey also highlighted ICBA's eagerness to collaborate with government bodies on these issues: "We look forward to working closely with the new Trump administration and 119th Congress to address excessive regulatory burdens and implement needed reforms to federal banking policy to help community banks meet the needs of local communities."
The Independent Community Bankers of America focuses on creating an environment where community banks can thrive through advocacy, education, and innovation. Community banks aim to leverage their relationship-based business model by channeling deposits into their neighborhoods, which supports job creation and economic prosperity.