Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey issued the following statement on congressional passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act budget reconciliation package.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it plans to issue new Section 1071 rulemaking as soon as possible and has extended compliance deadlines for most entities by one year—an extension designed to protect lenders that are not members of ICBA and not otherwise protected by the current stay.

The interns and a few other members of the ICBA team joined in on some team building activities with teambuilding.com!

Following federal banking regulators’ recently issued request for information on potential agency actions to address check fraud and other forms of payments fraud, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) today announced polling results showing Americans support policy efforts to take on the scourge of check fraud.

ICBA said the OCC should adopt a modernized and responsive regulatory framework that enables responsible innovation while preserving the safety and soundness of the financial system.

The Financial Action Task Force said stronger action is needed to safeguard the integrity of the international financial system from the risks posed by virtual assets.

Federal banking regulators issued the 2024 list of distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies.

Nissan this week became the latest automaker to apply to form an industrial loan company in Utah.

The Bank for International Settlements said that while tokenization can enhance efficiency and open new possibilities in cross-border payments and securities markets, stablecoins pose a risk to financial stability and monetary sovereignty without regulation.

The Federal Housing Administration published a request for information regarding “buy now, pay later” unsecured debt.

The House of Representatives passed ICBA-advocated legislation to restrict credit reporting agencies from selling consumers’ contact information when they apply for a residential mortgage.

ICBA told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that community banks already meet the requirements of Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act by providing consumers with electronic access to their financial data through online banking portals and mobile apps—and the statute only mandates data access directly to consumers, not third parties.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said the Fed should reconsider capital requirements for a wide range of banks, including the calibration of the community bank leverage ratio.

ICBA applauded Congress following today’s House passage of the bipartisan Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 2808), which will help protect the financial privacy of mortgage applicants.

ICBA is calling on community bankers to urge their members of Congress to vote yes on “trigger leads” legislation scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives today.

The criminal use of cryptocurrency is a major concern and North Korea is the biggest threat, the Financial Action Task Force said.

In considering the extent and timing of adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Federal Reserve will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks, according to its latest Monetary Policy Report to Congress.

The latest Independent Banker magazine offers year-round marketing strategies to help community banks connect with their communities.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender shared the Trump administration’s guiding principles for modernizing Bank Secrecy Act regulations.

The Treasury Department endorsed the Financial Action Task Force’s new international payments standards and said it supports FATF reports on countering illicit finance.