[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="New York's small town bankers shook off the holiday mantle of It's A Wonderful Life's Mr. Potter this week with a reminder of their difference from Wall Street behemoths, and the state's need to remember that when considering new oversight agency mergers."][/caption]The Times Union's Capitol Confidential blog has a short piece this morning about how the new merger of the state's banking and insurance industry oversight agencies may not be in the best interest of small town banks, the sorts of institutions that still play a large role in communities such as ours here in Columbia and Greene counties.

Herein the press release itself...

"The Independent Bankers Association of New York State is comprised of community banks located throughout New York State. Governor Cuomo in his first State of the State address recommended the creation of a Department of Financial Regulation which would merge the Banking Department, the Insurance Department, and the Consumer Protection Board. Chairman, Paul P. Mello of Solvay Bank, stated that, “we share the Governor’s objective of better regulation of modern financial services organizations”. In his speech, The Governor cited Wall Street corruption as a motivation for this change. Frank J. Capaldo, President and CEO of IBANYS commented, “The members of the Independent Bankers Association of NYS are confident that the Governor and the New York State Banking Department appreciate that community banks are located on Main Street, not on Wall Street, and are not complex financial services organizations that need additional regulatory oversight.” Capaldo stated, “IBANYS and its Legislative Counsel, William Y. Crowell III, are anxious to review the details of the Governor’s proposal, and to work cooperatively to achieve a positive result.”