Pub. 10 2015-2016 Issue 4

www.nebankers.org 8 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. Washington Update Proud to Have Served America’s Hometown Banker Frank Keating , President & CEO, American Bankers Association W ELL BEFORE I BEGAN MY tenure as president and CEO of ABA, I had a sense of the crucial role that banks play in their communities. I knew because when I was first running for governor of Oklahoma, I logged hundreds of miles visiting towns in every corner of the state. And in each of those towns, the local bank shone like a beacon. It was always the best- maintained, most-respectable facility on Main Street. To me, that was a symbol of hope and prosperity, a vote of confi- dence in the town’s future. After five years at ABA, I can tell you that my early impressions were spot on. Hometown banks—and the good men and women who work for them—are the biggest investors in their communities. They are the reasons for good things happening in cities and towns across the country. And it has been an honor to become part of such a noble profession. I leavemy post proud of what we have accomplished together, and confident that ABA’s new leader, Rob Nichols, will continue to move our Agenda for America’s Hometown Banks forward. I have known Rob for several years and can vouch for his stellar credentials, policy background, and established relationships with policymakers—all of which will serve you and our industry well. The current policy environment— featuring a chaotic session of Con- gress and intimidation of thoughtful policymakers who dare to consider cor- rections to the flawedDodd-Frank Act— often forces us to measure progress in inches, not miles. But every inch or sec- tion of a rule that we make more work- able for banks and their customers—as we didwith several “qualifiedmortgage” provisions and other rules such as Basel III and the Volcker Rule—is important. And every chink we put in the armor of our government-subsidized competi- tors can help us in our long-term efforts to level the playing field. There’s no changing policy affect- ing banks without first changing the conversation about banks and the vital role they play in our economic ecosystem. That’s something we have done together. We have, for instance, put a real face on the industry with our America’s Hometown Banker ads, and we’ve made a point to tell policymak- ers how proposals affect not our banks or bottom lines, but our customers and communities. That’s putting it in language policymakers understand best—and care about most. Of course, there is so much that remains on the industry’s to-do list. Dodd-Frank Act provisions, includ- ing the dreadful Durbin interchange amendment, have proven difficult to undo. But as I write this, ABA is work- ing with the state associations on a no-holds-barred effort to persuade the Senate to pass regulatory relief. And we are continuing to press regulators to do what they can to tailor rules, making them appropriate for banks of differ- ent business models and risk profiles. One example: We have proposed to regulators (and they seem receptive) that well-capitalized community banks be exempted from complex Basel III capital calculations. The key to our future success is the same as it is today: banker engagement. Not that ABA and the state associations don’t play an important role in advocat- ing for you. But when it’s time to cast