New banking rules might keep light touch-Bernanke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Any new rules to improve governance of U.S. banks must not increase the already high regulatory burden on this industry, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday.

"Banking is certainly one of the most regulated industries in the world," Bernanke told the national convention of the Independent Community Bankers of America.

"Community banks, being smaller, suffer proportionally more from the cost of regulation than other banks," he said.

(Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)