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Las Vegas, Nev. (March 14, 2013)—Bill Loving, president and CEO of Pendleton Community Bank in Franklin, W.Va., who becomes chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) today, told community bankers gathered at the 2013 ICBA National Convention and Techworld® in Las Vegas that regulatory relief for community banks will be his top priority as ICBA chairman.
“ICBA developed and recently unveiled a new robust platform for the 113th Congress. This initiative, or ‘Plan for Prosperity,’ contains a dozen regulatory relief provisions that will better enable your bank to serve your community,” Loving said before a room full of community bankers during his inaugural speech. “Regulatory relief is job No. 1, and I promise you we will not let up until Congress and the regulators understand that overregulation of community banks will destroy the very economies and jobs we seek to grow.”
In addition to working with Congress and regulators to foster regulatory relief for community banks, Loving said that throughout the next year he and ICBA will work on seeking solutions for numerous critical issues important to community bankers, such as complex accounting standards, mortgage rulemaking, Basel III, too-big-to-fail, the brutal exam environment and blocking the credit union power grab for member business lending. He also asked community bankers to continue reaching out to Congress and regulators to ensure their voices are heard from every part of the country. “We must be engaged,” he said. “We must fight for our industry. We must take care of today with an eye to the future.”
As part of that future, Loving noted that community banks are vital players in the growth and prosperity of their communities. He encouraged bankers to continue to “go local” by supporting and continuing to lend to small businesses. “By going local not only are community bankers building better communities, their neighbors are building better communities too. It is truly a win-win,” Loving said.
He also said that, similarly, technology will continue to play a significant role in the community banking industry and is a critical component to success. “Technology allows your customer to bank with you anywhere, anytime and any way they wish, not to mention the improvement in efficiency bank-wide,” he said.
For more information, visit www.icba.org.
About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America®, the nation’s voice for nearly 7,000 community banks of all sizes and charter types, is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education and high-quality products and services. For more information, visit www.icba.org.