Biden climate policy will be 'kiss of death' for small banks, CEO says

Florida Bankers Association CEO Alex Sanchez claimed Biden and climate envoy John Kerry are giving small banks the "kiss of death" by requiring them to produce expensive reports of their clients' climate impact. Sanchez said many community banks can't afford the cost of the pricey annual report on "Mornings with Maria" Wednesday.

ALEX SANCHEZ: My advice and counsel to the Biden administration is this: if you want to make changes on disclosures regarding the green energy industry and the need for it, ask fossil fuel companies for disclosures. Don't make the banks ask our customers for the carbon emissions of our customers. 

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The cost to our regional and community banks would be astronomical to hire experts to do these reports. 

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Imagine your hometown community bank having to hire an expert for small businesses, which 50% of Americans work for small businesses… It will start with our larger banks and then it will trickle down to our regional and community banks for them to do the same. 

And for your hometown bank to hire a $200,000 plus expert a year to see the carbon emissions of their customers. That's the kiss of death for community banks. 

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And as we saw during the PPP process, Maria, community banks played a vital role, as do regional banks, as do our large banks in our economy. So remember, a large percentage of the loans to small businesses come from community banks. So we need community banks. 

And imagine hiring someone who doesn't do anything to your bottom line and it just adds costs. And that's what the Biden administration has got to understand. 

Look, if they want to change what the fossil fuel industries and other affected industries have to do, ask them directly, pass a law, pass legislation, pass a new regulation asking them for information.

Why do the bankers have to get this as a third party from these industries?

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