Business News By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All but the biggest U.S. banks could see relief from some financial reforms after the November elections even if control of the U.S. Congress remains divided between Democrats and Republicans. Post-election committee leadership changes and growing momentum behind bipartisan fixes may lead to tweaks to the 2010 Dodd-Frank law for the smallest community banks, larger firms such as PNC Financial Services of Pittsburgh and Regions Financial of Birmingham, Alabama, and insurers, lobbyists and congressional staffers said. Small banks make loans to local small businesses, support their communities, and would not threaten our financial system if they defaulted, Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said in a statement to Reuters. The House of Representatives has approved bipartisan bills to free small banks from Federal Reserve and other rules. Banks that describe themselves as regional banks, including PNC, the 11th biggest US holding company with $324 billion in assets, according to U.S. regulatory data, and Capital One of McLean, Virginia, the 13th biggest with about $291 billion in assets, have banded together to form a coalition that argues they are like community banks, accepting deposits and lending to consumers and local businesses, and shouldnt have to meet the same requirements as Wall Street firms. The Regional Bank Coalition believes that its time to move beyond the simple asset-only model to determine systemic risk because it does not match the reality of the U.S. banking system, Deron Smithy, treasurer of Regions Bank, said in congressional testimony in May. Rules designed for large, complex firms impose real, burdensome costs when applied to middle-market lenders. Regions has $118 billion in assets and is the 26th biggest holding company. Under Dodd-Frank, banks with more than $50 billion in assets must test their performance in a hypothetical crisis, plan for what would happen if they should fail and meet other rules.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 06:29:37 +0000
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