Pub. 11 2016-2017 Issue 5

www.nebankers.org Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. Washington Update A Winning Game Plan for 2017 Rob Nichols, President & CEO, American Bankers Association T O SAY THE 2016 ELECTION CHANGED the outlook for banking policy is something of an understate- ment. It fundamentally altered the landscape and set the stage for a potentially very productive year in Washington. That’s not to say there won’t be challenges. Here’s what bank- ers hoping for meaningful regulatory relief need to know. With a Republican House, Senate, and White House, odds of pro-growth legislation being enacted are signifi- cantly increased but not guaranteed. For any bill to succeed, it will need 60 votes in the Senate. That means bipar- tisan support—and strong grassroots engagement by bankers—is essential. That said, it’s clear our industry will be starting 2017 with our advocacy efforts closer to the 50-yard line than our own 5-yard line. This greatly improves our odds of scoring important successes for economic growth. The outlook is also positive on the regulatory side, where new leadership at the banking agencies will provide many significant opportunities to improve banking conditions. The Trump admin- istration will have the task over the next several months of appointing new heads of the OCC (Comptroller Tom Curry’s term expires in March), FDIC (Chair- man Marty Gruenberg’s term expires in November), Federal Reserve Board (Janet Yellen’s term as chair expires in February 2018), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Director Richard Cordray’s term expires in July 2018). ABA will work collaboratively with the new leadership at these and other key regulatory agencies as we seek to reform andmodernize the regulatory system itself. Of course, the agenda inWashington will be very crowded, and we’ll need to work together to make sure our policy priorities get—and stay—on Congress’ radar. It helps that our priorities are geared toward helping our custom- ers, clients, and communities thrive, a goal that clearly aligns with lawmaker concerns. In fact, when ABA’s Government Relations Council leadership and Board of Directors met in December, the