With substantial regulatory relief within reach, community bankers should use their clout to shape cybersecurity policy and ensure a level playing field for banks and nonbanks, retiring ICBA chief Cam Fine says.
Timothy Zimmerman is optimistic about regulatory relief and the capabilities of the association's next CEO, but he remains wary of nonbank competition and cybersecurity risk.
Financial institutions and retail companies are trading barbs over which industry poses greater risk to sensitive customer information just as lawmakers are planning to take another stab at a data security bill.
Credit union groups were scrambling Wednesday to respond to a letter from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch questioning whether the industry had outgrown its income-tax exemption.
Four financial trade associations sent a letter to Senate leaders touting the regulatory relief bill as "example of how our elected leaders can advance necessary solutions by working together and across the aisle."
Twenty-two trade groups, including seven financial trade groups, sent a letter to House lawmakers calling for new data security standards that would preempt state law.
A regulatory relief package is likely to come out of the Senate in the new year, and lawmakers could follow it up with a housing finance reform push. But the midterm election could cause some reform initiatives to grind to a halt.
Seven trade associations — including those representing banks and credit unions — sent a joint letter to Congress outlining data security standards for entities that handle financial data.
The trade group wants Equifax to reimburse community banks for costs tied to the massive data breach at the credit bureau this year. The ICBA also wants a court to order Equifax to improve its security measures.
Bankers are generally happy with the House Republican tax plan released last week, but one provision of the proposed overhaul is likely to give them pause: a cutback in the deduction for deposit insurance premiums.