Community bankers urge a short-form call report and tiered supervision to reduce burdens
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Summary
The Independent Community Bankers of America and other panelists called for a true short-form quarterly call report for community banks and broader tiered regulation to prevent smaller banks from taking on rules meant for large institutions.
Amy Lettig, vice president at the Independent Community Bankers of America, urged regulators to adopt tiered supervision and to implement a short-form call report for community banks in the first and third quarters, while retaining the full call report midyear and at year-end.
"We recommend implementing a true short form call report for the nation's community banks," Lettig said, adding that allowing community banks to file a concise balance sheet and income statement in two quarters would materially reduce compliance burden without materially increasing systemic risk.
Lettig framed the request as part of a broader push to modernize thresholds and tailor supervisory expectations by size and risk profile. She argued that modernizing static thresholds and indexing them would keep community banks from being unnecessarily swept into requirements meant for much larger institutions and would support local lending and economic activity.
Other panelists supported the goal of reducing duplicative information requests and tailoring supervision. "Limiting unnecessary duplicative information requests" would free community bank leadership to focus on lending, one panelist said. Panelists nevertheless emphasized protecting safeguards for the largest banks to preserve financial stability.
The proposal as stated in the panel would let community banks file short, limited schedules in the first and third quarters, with full filings midyear and year-end; the panel did not present a formal regulatory text or timetable, and agencies did not take any vote at the session.
