WASHINGTON — President Trump is scheduled to meet with the top leadership of the Independent Community Bankers of America on Monday, including more than 100 of its members, the group said late Sunday.
The meeting was requested by the president, according to Cam Fine, the president and CEO of the group, and is expected to also include Vice President Mike Pence.
“ICBA is deeply honored that the White House reached out to ICBA and invited more than 100 of our ICBA community bank leaders to meet with President Trump during our annual Capital Summit,” Fine said in a press release. “We look forward to a productive meeting with the president and his administration to discuss issues that are top of mind for our nation’s more than 5,800 community banks—issues that will be highlighted with policymakers this week as more than 1,000 community bankers convene in Washington.”
The meeting with the ICBA comes at the beginning of the group's fly-in to Washington, where community bankers are urged to directly lobby the administration and their members of Congress. The ICBA said it hopes to raise several issues this week, including regulatory relief, the reauthorization of flood insurance, tax reform, credit unions' federal tax exemption, a farm bill and a stop to what it views as the Farm Credit System's "mission creep."
While Trump has met with small groups of bankers before, this is by far his largest gathering with community bankers. Since taking office, he has repeatedly sought to reassure them that he is committed to regulatory relief. He signed an executive order requiring Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to examine what can be done to provide help to institutions as part of a review of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Trump also met with a smaller group of community bankers in March. Participants in that meeting
Community bankers are hopeful for the passage of regulatory relief this year, though the outlook for sweeping legislation is poor.
While House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling is expected to see his relief bill pass the panel on Tuesday, the legislation stands little chance in the Senate. Democrats broadly support providing relief to community bankers, but are opposed to many of the Hensarling bill's provisions, including its restructuring of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has said passage of a broad relief bill is unlikely, but he is working with Democrats on targeted bipartisan legislation.
Hensarling and Mnuchin are expected to appear at the ICBA's Capital Summit this week.
