Hampton State Bank is fully supportive of consumer protection. As a matter of fact, the better part of a day in the life of a banker is spent protecting your personal financial information, your savings and you from those who might seek to do you harm. And, if service to our customers isn’t reason enough to encourage good behavior, we are also subject to an extensive regulatory regime, including regular examinations by state and federal agencies. These examinations ensure that banks are focused on conducting transactions correctly and treating customers fairly.

The Administration is proposing the creation of a new federal commission to regulate financial products. Such an entity may serve a useful purpose in the less regulated, non-bank world of financial providers. But, applying this added layer of regulation to community banks like Hampton State Bank will only serve to increase the amount of time spent on burdensome procedures and paper work and decrease the amount of time and resources available to serve our customers. And, sadly, it could result in fewer product choices, at higher prices, for our customers.

The Administration’s proposal would separate the regulation of a bank from the regulation of its products. In practice, this is impossible to do. Consumer protection is not just about the financial product, it is also about the integrity of the bank offering the product.

You, the bank customer, are best served by a financially sound banking industry that safeguards customer deposits, lends those deposits responsibly, and processes payments efficiently. Traditional FDIC-insured banks like Hampton State Bank, more than any other financial institution class, are dedicated to delivering consumer financial services right the first time and have the compliance programs and top-down culture to prove it.

Certainly, this financial crisis and economic recession have revealed areas that need to be fixed, including responsible government housing policy and consistent regulation for all mortgage originators. Improvements can also be made to enhance consumer protections, but that can be done more quickly and effectively through existing laws and agencies, not by adding another layer of regulation onto an already heavily-regulated industry.