On the recordJune 8, 2017
I have listened to the statement of the gentleman from Minnesota, and I have to say I am reminded of what former Senator Moynihan said about we are all entitled to our own opinion, but not our own facts, and here are the facts. The banks that are organized as mutual holding companies organize that way. They are owned by their depositors, and they have also been able to sell publicly traded stock, but they keep a majority position in the mutual holding company. Why? Because they want to maintain the community involvement. They want to maintain the community ownership and not have their bank taken over by a distanced series of investors. That is what is exactly happening with the Bank of Greene County, for instance, in my district. The Bank of Greene County, as a mutual holding company, they own 55 percent of the bank. So it is owned by the depositors, the public shareholders, 45 percent; but because of Dodd-Frank and because of the change in the regulatory process that was eliminated in Dodd-Frank, every time the mutual holding company has dividends, annually, to waive, they must send a notice to every depositor. A depositor who might have $5 in the account or $50,000, they have to mail a notice to them. It costs them $150,000 a year that is simply wasted, and that money can't be reinvested in our community. Mr. Chair, I regret that the minority is misrepresenting what we are trying to do here.…
