Overview

• The Federal Reserve hosted a Community Bank Conference in Washington that brought together more than a hundred community bank CEOs in person with many more joining virtually.
• Sessions examined emerging trends for smaller lenders, including the impact of artificial intelligence and rising fraud risks, along with a policy discussion on capital and liquidity requirements.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and private-sector leaders from Paxos, Blackstone, and Robinhood participated, with CNBC’s Jim Cramer moderating a panel of veteran community bank CEOs.
• Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman emphasized regulatory tailoring that includes reviewing and indexing asset-size thresholds, evaluating regulatory tradeoffs and hidden supervisory costs, streamlining M&A reviews, and supporting new bank formation.
• The event builds on the Community Banking Research Conference, an annual forum since 2013 co-sponsored with CSBS and the FDIC to translate research into policy discussions for community banks.