September 28, 2022
greeting words
Chairman Jerome H. Powell
At the 2022 Community Banking Research Conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri (via recorded video)
watch live
Link to video of Chairman Powell’s recorded remarks: https://youtu.be/s-cKJhfLo2Y
Good morning and welcome to the 10th Annual Community Banking Research Conference. I have attended this conference twice before, including the first in 2013, and I can attest to the quality of the research and discussions. As I come to you virtually today, many of you are meeting in person for the first time in three years. I’m sure it will make an excellent event even more enjoyable.
The Community Banking Research Conference brings together researchers, regulators, policymakers and community bankers to discuss the unique and important role of community banks in our economy. The conference was created in the years after the financial crisis with the collaboration of the Federal Reserve, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The conference was designed to deepen our understanding of the community banking business model and to provide a forum to discuss research findings with academics, policymakers, regulators and community bankers.
The research presented over the years has informed regulatory and regulatory debates and continues to challenge our thinking. It has highlighted the vital links between community banks and small businesses, the availability of credit in low- and middle-income communities, how community banks support their communities in times of crisis, and the impact of technology.
A key feature of the research sessions is that community bankers meet with academic facilitators to provide feedback from a practitioner’s perspective. The challenges for community banks have changed significantly in the last 10 years. Community banks have shown remarkable resilience, and conferences like this one have helped regulators and supervisors better understand these changes.
I would like to congratulate the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on hosting an important and informative conference for ten years.
And I want to thank our colleagues at the Fed, the FDIC, and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Sadly, I would like to acknowledge the passing of John Ryan, President of CSBS, this past May. John’s impact on CSBS and his contributions to the financial services sector as a whole was significant and he will be missed by all who knew and worked with him.
Thank you also to the researchers and all community banking professionals for their insights and contributions over the years.
Thank you everyone and have a great conference.