Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, August 16, 2012 - West Virginia-based financial institutions will have the opportunity on Monday to tell a Congressional subcommittee chaired by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito how new regulations are affecting their ability to stimulate local job growth.

The House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit will hold a field hearing in Charleston, West Virginia at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse at 11 a.m.

“If we’re going to get our economy moving again, small businesses must have access to capital so they can grow and create new jobs.  Yet the burden of new red tape coming out of Washington is crushing small, community-based financial institutions like those we have in West Virginia.  We need to look at the cumulative impact all these regulations are having on our economy and see what can be done to eliminate unnecessary roadblocks to our recovery,” said Chairman Capito.

The Dodd-Frank Act, passed by Congress in 2010, requires regulators to issue 400 new regulations on the private sector.  Many financial institutions across the country have expressed concerns that the cumulative weight of these new rules – layered upon existing rules – will substantially increase compliance costs, which forces them to curtail the lending and investment activities that promote economic growth in their communities.

During the field hearing in West Virginia, the Subcommittee will also explore the effects of excessively stringent federal bank examinations on the economic recovery.

Under Chairman Capito’s leadership, the Subcommittee has held similar field hearings to examine the local impact of regulations and bank examinations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia and Texas.

Witnesses who are scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee are:

Charles R. Hageboeck, President and Chief Executive Officer of City National Bank

Tom Brewer, President of People’s Federal Credit Union

William A. Loving, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pendleton Community Bank

John Wohlever, Owner of Mountaineer Mobile Homes

Sarah K. Brown, Attorney with Mountain State Justice, Inc.