IBA Meets With Financial Services Committee Chairman

On Tuesday, December 4, a delegation of Iowa bankers met with Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, to discuss a number of critical banking issues.  The meeting was arranged by Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell, who also attended.  The Iowa Bankers Association delegation included Jeff Plagge (Midwest Heritage Bank), Brad Davis (Hampton State Bank), Jim Schipper (American State Bank – Osceola) and John Sorensen (IBA).  Discussion centered on H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform bill, which recently passed the House of Representatives.  Chairman Frank stated his primary goal was to move potential borrowers back to regulated depository institutions.  He was a willing listener to a number of concerns expressed by the IBA delegation.

The group thanked Chairman Frank for his amendment preventing the Farm Credit System’s non-farm lending initiative and for passing a bill preventing commercial ownership of industrial loan companies.  The recent credit union failures in Colorado and Michigan, resulting from Florida commercial real estate loans, were also a topic of discussion.  The Chairman said these instances give him pause when considering any additional credit union commercial lending authority.  His committee plans to hold a hearing on CRA for credit unions in the near future.