Financial trade organizations have their sights trained on
several pressing regulatory issues that were not as widely publicized as others
but are still critical to their operations. In this roundup, we examine what
some of the largest associations representing banks and credit unions have to
say about potential rulemaking activities and pending legislative matters that
could affect their members’ businesses, detailed below:
ABA urges FinCEN to reconsider BOI reg impacts on banks
As the Treasury’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network
(FinCEN) considers renewing its beneficial ownership information (BOI)
regulations without changes to existing BOI collection requirements, the
American Bankers Association (ABA) wrote to the agency to highlight the need to
accurately calculate the burden that collection currently places on financial
institutions and to consider portions of the rule that are effective and those
that are not. The ABA noted that it supports the agency’s goals related to BOI
data collection but urges FinCEN to consider ways to address issues surrounding
the customer due diligence rule, including the agency’s tendency to undercount
how much time it takes for banks to comply with BOI collection requirements.
The letter can be found here.
ACU president advocates preserving credit union tax
exemption
America’s Credit Unions President and CEO Jim Nussle urged
members of the House Ways and Means Committee to protect credit union’s
tax-exempt status in a letter ahead of the committee’s recent hearing with
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
“The tax-exempt status afforded credit unions allowed them
to reach out to areas banks could not and serve those that banks would not,”
Nussle wrote. “By every account, this legislation has been an unparalleled
success. Today, credit unions still stick to that basic mission of providing
safe, affordable financial services products to Main Street America.”
Nussle pointed out the federal tax exemption, outlined in
the Federal Credit Union Act, does not mean credit unions pay no tax,
explaining the industry pays approximately $25 billion in annual property,
payroll, sales and other taxes. Read his full letter here.
ICBA releases new polling data; meets with CFPB, FDIC
heads
Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President
and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey held a fireside chat with Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman Martin Gruenberg and Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra to discuss regulatory parity,
consolidation in the banking industry, community banks’ value proposition and
other matters during the 2024 ICBA Capital Summit in Washington, D.C.
The trade group also released new polling data indicating
public support for ICBA-supported measures aimed at providing tax relief for
lending institutions in rural areas, restricting credit reporting agencies from
selling consumers’ contact information when they apply for a residential
mortgage and requiring strict data privacy protections for all institutions. Learn
more here.
MBA comments on HUD flood risk management final rule
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Bob
Broeksmit released a statement expressing concerns over the Department of
Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Flood Risk Management Standard final
rule.
“At a time when housing markets across the country continue
to suffer from weakening affordability, supply shortages, and rising property
insurance costs, we are disappointed that several aspects of the final rule
will slow housing production and ultimately increase costs for homeowners,
renters, and builders,” Broeksmit said. “While MBA appreciates the eight-month
implementation timeline, we remain deeply concerned that expanding floodplain
areas, implementing new elevation requirements for some new single-family and
multifamily homes, and requiring higher levels of flood insurance will make FHA
financing more expensive and less competitive.”
He further asserted that implementing climate-informed
science approach tools with the rule is like “putting the cart before the horse,
as the maps are not yet available nationwide,” which he claimed would create
inconsistencies and confusion in compliance.