February, 15 , 2010

Lynchburg-area bank officials have doubts about proposals to raise both the availability of credit and government’s ability to control it.Those two goals oppose each other, they said.“We’re subject to regulation already. Heaven forbid that there’s another agency created that we have to answer to,” said Rob Gilliam, president of First National Bank in Altavista. “It just involves more costs, and taking away from our doing what we’re in business to do.”

This winter lawmakers have begun mulling two proposals focused on the lending industry.This month, President Barack Obama asked Congress to create a program to help small banks lend to small businesses. In December, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency to create and enforce rules for loan products, including credit cards.

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