Fed member: U. S. community banks under threat

Regulation and low profits pose threats to the U. S. community banking sector according to Michelle Bowman; member of the Federal Reserve Board.

Speaking to a community bankers’ symposium at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Bowman noted that only 44 new banks had been chartered in the last decade.

Bowman said that local banks were vital sources of credit both for rural areas and for businesses owned by members of ethnic minorities in cities. She noted that they were responsible for about 60%.