While the condition of Iowa banks is generally strong, regulators worry about concentrations in commercial real estate and agricultural loans, in addition to liquidity and cybersecurity issues, representatives from the State of Iowa, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the FDIC told bankers gathered in Okoboji on July 20 at the annual meeting of the Community Bankers of Iowa. [Continue]
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari addressed bankers gathered Aug. 10-12 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Bloomington for the 55th annual convention of the Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota. Both relayed similar messages about a consensus on the necessity for reg relief but skepticism about the likelihood of it coming any time soon.
“There is a consensus in Washington,” said Pawlenty, CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable. “They can’t always act on it, but at least they have a sentiment that community bankers, first of all, are very valuable, and second of all, need relief in terms of regulation,” he said. “The details of that and what form that takes is still a work in progress, but there is certainly political across-the-aisle consensus around it. [Continue]