Merging Bank Groups Fight Merger of Regulators

WASHINGTON - The American Bankers Association and America's Community Bankers, which are in the process of merging, called on the Bush administration last week to reject a proposal to merge the regulators for banks and S&Ls.

The combination of the two groups will join the two most ardent credit union opponents, promising to raise the heat on the bankers' fight to repeal the credit union tax exemption.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen, the ABA and ACB said they were opposed to a cost-saving proposal that would combine the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Comptroller of the Currency. A combination, said the banking lobbyists, would decrease the competitiveness of the U.S. banking system "by negatively impacting true charter choice and the innovation and flexibility that charter choice provides." The two lobby groups go on to say that the unique S&L charter deserves its own unique regulator.

The ABA and ACB, themselves, have tentatively agreed to a merger they say will better serve banks and thrifts by unifying their lobby might and reducing costs.