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American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.
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On new regulations that have unintentionally harmful effects for the banking industry:

"The recent move to make bank execs directly accountable for [anti-money-laundering] violations across the bank may seem a good idea on paper, but soon it will be amazing to see any bankers left to run our banks. Regardless of the size of a bank, no one can be 100% certain of compliance when people are a key factor in the equation."

(Image: iStock)

Related article: An Open Letter to Elizabeth Warren on the Future of Community Banks

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On former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Sheila Bair's suggestion that regulators be empowered to exempt banks with less than $10 billion in assets from current and future regulations:

"While Bair proposes a decent starting point, it shouldn't be left up to regulators to arbitrarily determine what bank is deserving of leniency. Instead, regulatory relief should be universally applied to all banks <$10bn in total assets."

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Related article: The Easy Legislative Fix that Could Save Community Banks"

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On the risks that community banks may face in teaming up with big banks to push for regulatory reforms:

"Big banks have no political goodwill, so stay away from partnering with them. Either do clean, small-bank-only legislation that does not touch regulation of large banks, or take Sheila Bair's advice and do legislation that gives regulators authority to waive [regulations] on small banks."

(Image: Bloomberg News)

Related article: An Open Letter to Elizabeth Warren on the Future of Community Banks

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On how regulatory concerns have changed the way community banks do business:

"Smaller banks that are well-capitalized and well-reserved for potential losses need a break from regulation. Our decision-making is now about regulators and not the customers or our stockholders."

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Related article: Scrap Regulations that Thin the Ranks of Small Banks

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On the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's efforts to offer financial education to a broad swath of Americans:

"When I was growing up, there was so much we didn't understand about healthy living. Now we know we shouldn't smoke and we should exercise. … Healthy living is now part of our culture and our language. We can do the same with financial literacy."

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Related article: How CFPB Is Trying to Bring Financial Education to the Masses

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On the news that New York may soon hold bank executives personally accountable for the quality of their institutions' anti-money-laundering controls (via <a href="https://twitter.com/iang_fc/status/570739525317586944" target="_blank">Twitter</a>):

"What about making bankers responsible for not taking the bank insolvent?"

(Image: iStock)

Related article: N.Y. May Make Executives Liable for AML Controls, Lawsky Says

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On the suggestion that bank directors need to be professionally certified in order to be effective in their roles:

"It's utterly absurd to compare bank directors to pilots and nurses. Directors' role is governance, not operations. The equivalent argument would be to require airline directors to be trained and certified as pilots, or hospital directors to go through a nursing curriculum."

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Related article: Is the Bar Too Low to Join a Bank Board in the U.S.?

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Responding to a Bitcoin critic's dismissal of users' desire for anonymity:

"'Privacy is a privilege extended by government.' Really? Not according to our Bill of Rights."

(Image: iStock)

Related video: How Transparent Is Bitcoin?

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