Community bank compliance officers rank Truth in Lending Act compliance, and compliance with the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act as their top priorities for the next 12 months, according to a survey conducted by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. Indications are that this in part is because of a renewed push on home lending by 42% of the institutions represented by survey respondents.
 
In the company’s poll, incorporating answers from 242 bankers, multiple priorities could be selected. The survey sample ranked compliance issues as follows:
• Truth in Lending/Reg Z: 60%
• RESPA: 58%
• Bank Secrecy Act: 37%
• FACT Act Red Flag Rules: 28%
• Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: 23%
• USA Patriot Act: 7%
• Community Reinvestment Act: 5%
 
When the banks’ responses were analyzed by asset-size category, here’s how rankings came out:
 
Less than $250 million: TILA/Reg Z (57%); RESPA (57%); BSA (40%); and Red Flag (30%).
 
$251-$500 million: TILA/Reg Z (81%); RESPA (52%); BSA (29%); and Red Flag (14%).
 
More than $500 million: RESPA (79%); TILA/Reg Z (63%); HMDA (42%); BSA (16%); Red Flag (16%); and CRA (16%).
 
When asked what they saw as the greatest growth opportunity for their banks, the overall sample’s response ranked the top three as commercial lending (49%); mortgage lending (43%); and consumer lending (37%).
 
The leaning towards mortgages was stronger among banks with more than $500 million in assets. Of those institutions, there was a tie between commercial lending and mortgage lending at 63%.
 
Wolters Kluwer is sponsoring a special edition of ABA Banking Journal Report that will be sent Wednesday of next week. If you don’t already receive Report, click here to subscribe.
 
[This article was posted on July 9, 2009 on the website of ABA Banking Journal, www.ababj.com, and is copyright 2009 by the American Bankers Association.]