Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey issued the following statement following the latest acquisition of a tax-paying community bank by a tax-exempt credit union.
“Following last year’s record number of community bank acquisitions by tax-exempt credit unions, the latest deal further demonstrates why the growing skepticism of credit union tax and regulatory exemptions must evolve into policymaker action. This is the third bank that this growth-obsessed credit union has acquired in the past five years.
“While Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman has said regulatory disparities between community banks and credit unions distort competition and former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair has written that Washington should reexamine credit union tax subsidies as Congress considers tax reform this year, ICBA continues calling on Congress to eliminate the federal tax exemption for credit unions over $1 billion in assets.
“With credit unions straying far beyond their founding congressional mandate of serving people of modest means with a defined field of membership, such as those with the same church or employer, consumers increasingly support reforms to credit union policies. For instance, recent ICBA polling conducted by Morning Consult found that 62% of U.S. adults say credit unions that operate like banks should have to pay taxes like banks and 62% support a congressional investigation of the credit union industry’s tax and regulatory exemptions.
“As these financial firms increasingly use their taxpayer-funded subsidies to finance multimillion-dollar NFL stadium naming rights deals, buy private planes for their senior executives, and raise funds from Wall Street hedge funds and private equity firms while fueling industry consolidation through acquisitions of tax-paying community banks, policymakers should eliminate this taxpayer expense to help preserve market choice for consumers and small businesses.”
ICBA’s “Repair, Reform, and Thrive” plan and open letter to the 119th Congressurge lawmakers to use the current debate over tax reform to address credit unions’ tax and regulatory advantages. Further, a new 2025 policy resolution that ICBA introduced earlier this year formally calls on policymakers to end the federal tax exemption for credit unions with $1 billion or more in assets or to establish tax parity between credit unions and tax-paying community banks. ICBA looks forward to continuing to work with the Trump administration and the 119th Congress to advance these critical reforms.
About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America® has one mission: to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish. We power the potential of the nation’s community banks through effective advocacy, education, and innovation.
As local and trusted sources of credit, America’s community banks leverage their relationship-based business model and innovative offerings to channel deposits into the neighborhoods they serve, creating jobs, fostering economic prosperity, and fueling their customers’ financial goals and dreams. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at icba.org.