“It is a real pleasure for me to have the opportunity to speak to community bankers at this annual Community Bankers Symposium sponsored jointly by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). I know that many of you are concerned about the banking agencies’ recent proposals to revise the capital rules, the so-called Basel III proposals. So I will start my remarks with an update on those proposals. Then I will move to a more detailed discussion of some data that I have found interesting as I have been thinking about the effect of regulations as they relate to residential mortgage lending.

Before I begin, I want to assure you that all of my colleagues on the Board of Governors, including the Chairman, are concerned about the effect of regulation on community bank lending. In fact, we have established a subcommittee of the Board, which I chair, to focus on the supervision and regulation of community and small regional banks. In addition, we have established a Community Depository Institution Advisory Council (CDIAC) made up of community banks, thrifts, and credit unions to advise the Board about issues facing smaller institutions. But I want to also be clear that any opinions I express today are my own and may not reflect those of other members of the Board.”

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Read Governor Duke’s full speech here