NCRC’s President and CEO Jesse Van Tol released a statement in regards to the House’s recent passage of H.R. 6955 (the Main Street Capital Access Act) and the devastating ripple effects it will have on regulatory accountability for banking institutions as well as fair lending for communities:
The House voted to hand banks a green light to consolidate with less scrutiny, less accountability and far fewer safeguards for the communities they are supposed to serve.
H.R. 6955 would gut meaningful competition review for many bank mergers and force regulators onto an accelerated timeline that all but guarantees community voices will be ignored. Because roughly 4,129 of the nation’s 4,287 insured banks (or approximately 96 %) hold under $10 billion in assets, this carveout would cover a large share of community and regional bank merger activity. The problem is especially acute in rural counties and smaller local markets.
Bank mergers are not routine paperwork. They reshape local economies, determine whether neighborhoods retain access to basic financial services and can leave consumers and small businesses with fewer options and higher costs.The bill’s core purpose is to weaken oversight and tilt the playing field toward large financial institutions at the expense of the public. This is a dangerous step backward for fair access to banking and community stability.
