New Haven banking compliance software provider Continuity said community banks each spent an additional $29,660 in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter to comply with 79 regulatory changes.
That was down from the cost growth in the third quarter, when each bank spent an additional $45,262, and from a year ago when the number was $35,798.
The added costs do not represent banks’ entire cost of complying with regulations — only the extra amount spent on dealing with new rules during a given quarter, according to Continuity.
Each community bank — defined as a lender with less than $10 billion in assets — spent 374 hours complying with new regulations in the fourth quarter, Continuity said.
