BASEL III Comment Deadline is October 22 -- TAKE ACTION!

The industry met with Senate Banking Committee staff to outline the community banking industry's concerns with proposed Basel III capital guidelines. In a joint briefing with the ABA, the ICBA noted the Basel III proposed rules would have a negative impact on community bank profitability and credit availability, which would directly affect their customers and communities. IBANYS strongly opposes the proposed rules, and supports exempting community banks from the proposed regulations. New York community bankers: The deadline for comments is Oct. 22. Please send comment letters and sign an ICBA petition. Learn More and Take Action.  IBANYS members: Ask your members of Congress to contact Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (202-225-4921) and/or Ranking Member Barney Frank (202-225-5931) to request that they orchestrate a joint letter for signatures once House members return to Washington.

Comptroller DiNapoli Concerned Over State Budget, Recovery

NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli cautioned that New York State is headed for another tough budget year, noting "you can't spend money that you don't have." Speaking about the economy, he stated: "There are more positive signs than negative, (but) it is still a very, very slow recovery. So as long as the recovery continues to be slow, it means continued pressure on the revenues coming to the state."

New Polling Out on Two State Senate Races

A new Siena poll found GOP State Sen. Mark Grisanti, one of the four Republican senators who voted "yes" on same-sex marriage last summer and who easily won the Sept. 13 GOP primary, leads Democrat Michael Amodeo 47 percent to 23 percent in the 60^th SD in Western NY. Conservative Charles Swanick had 17 percent, and Gregory Davis had 6 percent on the Working Families Party line. Meanwhile, in the 15th SD in Queens, Republican NYC Councilman Eric Ulrich is neck-and-neck with Democratic Sen. Joe Addabbo, who had 45 percent  to Ulrich's 43 percent. Twelve percent were undecided. 

Lawsky Warns About Basel III Impact on Smaller Banks 

Speaking in Albany, NYS DFS Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky warned the proposed expansion of the Basel III Capital Requirements to all U.S. banks large and small "has the potential to be a real problem." He said when a smaller bank's compliance operation outnumbers its loan officers, trouble is on the horizon for a sector of the banking industry that provides a disproportionately large amount of small business lending. The Superintendent said the change could lead to a "wave of consolidation," creating even bigger too-big-to-fail institutions without addressing the root causes of the 2008 collapse.