Feedback: No Sympathy for Banks on Capital Requirements

Regarding "Don't Crimp Banks' Lending Capacity," May 27], what credit capacity is [Risk Management Assocation CEO William] Githens speaking about? We don't see any material willingness of any bank, big or small, to lend to small business on any meaningful scale.

His argument won't win any public support because both the insolvent zombie banks and the solvent banks (particularly the big ones) are responsible for the small-business credit freeze. By most meaningful public statistics, banks continue to hoard cash at the Fed, perpetuating the already brutal credit freeze on small business.

Don't expect any sympathy from small businesses or U.S. consumers with respect to the trouble the banks have gotten themselves into even after we taxpayers bailed them out!

The truth is that today one out of three people in the U.S. do not trust banks. Any favorable mark-to-market accounting treatment by FASB, no matter how justified, will never be supported by the public as we consumers have already lost many of our homes and even more small business have already been burned by banks, which have caused permanent damage to these businesses and their former employees.

Githens needs a dose of reality. CPAs already fully understand the negative impact that mark-to-market will have on banks. The truth is we CPAs don't trust banks to lend even if they are spared from harsh accounting treatment because we have witnessed first hand the carnage handed out by the banks on small businesses.