WASHINGTON — A panel of House members will meet next week in Georgia, the epicenter of bank failures nationwide, for a hearing on whether bank examiners have become overly strict.
The hearing in Newnan, Ga., will feature testimony from the chief executives of two Georgia banks — Chuck Copeland, chief executive of First National Bank of Griffin, and Jim Edwards, chief executive of United Bank. It will also include testimony from Gary Fox, the former chief executive of Barton County Bank, based in Cartersville, Ga., which failed in April.
Also scheduled to testify before the House subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer credit are witnesses from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
House Republicans who are holding the hearing say that regulators are sending mixed messages to banks — urging them to lend more, but also applying restrictions that make it harder to lend.
"With a struggling economy and high unemployment, small business and small town banks need some relief from the growing regulatory burden that block the creation of new jobs," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said in a statement. "Bank examiners must recognize the risks of over-regulation, and particularly avoid subjecting smaller financial institutions to undue regulatory burdens."
In July, the House passed a bill that would require the FDIC's inspector general to review the impact of the agency's practices on community banks. That bill was sponsored by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., whose home state has seen 67 bank failures since 2008.
