NewsWatch Today

Community bankers interested in speaking during the next Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act regulatory review must register by today.

Revenue from romance scams—also known as “pig butchering”—grew 40% last year and accounted for more than a third of all crypto-related scams, according to a report by Chainalysis.

Last week’s simultaneous congressional hearings featuring ICBA witnesses spotlighted the industry’s policy priorities while demonstrating that community banks are being heard in Washington, ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey wrote in a new op-ed.

ICBA said any change to the structure of the nation’s banking agencies must involve careful study and input from all stakeholders, including community banks.

Community bankers interested in speaking during the next Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act regulatory review must register by tomorrow, Feb. 14.

Acting Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mark Uyeda said his agency will seek to freeze court proceedings in a legal challenge to its final rule requiring climate-related investor disclosures, citing his opposition to the rule.

ICBA told Congress that current stablecoin arrangements are not subject to comprehensive supervision and lack many critical consumer and anti-money laundering protections—a regulatory gap that allows risks to the financial system to multiply, provides opportunities for financial crimes, and creates an unequal playing field with highly regulated community banks.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. will never have a central bank digital currency as long as he leads the Fed.

The latest edition of Independent Banker magazine provides insights on minority depository institutions from ICBA’s Minority Bank Advisory Council.

FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan announced he was stepping aside from the FDIC board of directors.

With some community bank customers inquiring about the security of their bank deposits amid government efforts related to federal spending and bureaucracy, ICBA released customizable language its members can use to answer customer questions.

A U.S. court of appeals temporarily paused the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 1071 small-business rule and extended its compliance deadlines until further notice, as advocated by ICBA.