The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) is the primary trade group for small U.S. banks.Joe Rauch. UPDATE 1-Senator blasts Visa, MasterCard on antitrust fears Reuters. May 27, 2010. Accessed May 29, 2010. It represents approximately 5,000 small and mid-sized financial institutions that are commonly known as "community banks." The ICBA hosts conventions,Sewell Chan. Now On Deck: Financial Regulatory Reform The New York Times. March 20, 2010. Accessed May 29, 2010. publishes the monthly magazine ICBA Independent Banker"Banking magazine ranks Alpine Bank in top 20," Steamboat Pilot News, 29 June, 2008 and lobbies the United States Congress on issues relating to the banking industry."Small banks spent $820K lobbying in 1Q," Associated Press/Forbes, 17 June, 2008
The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and maintains statewide chapters across the country. It was founded in 1930 and owns six subsidiaries: ICBA Bancard, ICBA Securities, ICBA Financial Services, ICBA Mortgage, ICBA Insurance Services and ICBA Reinsurance
Advocacy During financial reform attempts in the US, the ICBA has lobbied for: credit unions to not obtain a perceived competitive advantage;Victoria McGrane. Credit unions, banks join forces for now Politico. July 10, 2008. Accessed May 29, 2010. a loophole that would allow smaller banks to still choose their regulator—which is expected to result in those banks choosing the most lenient regulator.Daniel Wagner, Stevenson Jacobs. New financial rules might not prevent next crisis Associated Press. May 23, 2010. Accessed May 29, 2010.
Legislation On November 8, 2013, the ICBA published a letter in "strong support" of the bill To enhance the ability of community financial institutions to foster economic growth and serve their communities, boost small businesses, increase individual savings (H.R. 3329; 113th Congress). The bill would direct the Federal Reserve to revise certain regulations related to small bank holding companies (BHCs). Current regulations allow BHCs with assets of less than $500 million that satisfy other tests to incur higher amounts of debt than larger institutions in order to acquire other banks. H.R. 3329 would apply the less-stringent standard to more BHCs by raising the asset limit to $1 billion, and the bill also would allow savings and loan holding companies to qualify. The ICBA argued that "increasing the eligibility threshold to $1 billion to account for inflation, industry consolidation, and asset growth will help an additional 515 bank and savings and loan holding companies raise capital for additional consumer and small business lending, leading to job creation and community development."
References
External links ICBA web site