Pub. 7 2012-2013 Issue 1

May/June 2012 11 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. I F YOU MISSED THE MEETING, YOU might want to put next year’s dates on your calendar today. It’s becoming the can’t-miss event of the year—a unique gathering of the banking industry’s current and emerg- ing leaders who share a passion for industry advocacy. A record 1,100 bankers came to Washington for this year’s event. Our summit’s theme was “Talk to Power,” and bankers like you did just that, proudly articulating banks’ role as the engines of economic growth and job creation in their communities. They also urged their members of Congress to clear away the regulatory under- brush and allow them to better serve their communities. Banker delegations also focused on specific legislation, and got results. Case in point: Congress’ enactment and the President’s subsequent sign- ing of the JOBS Act, which includes ABA- and NBA-backed provisions that increase the SEC registration threshold from500 to 2,000 for financial institu- tions and also raise the deregistration threshold from 300 to 1,200 share- holders. ABA first proposed raising the shareholder threshold seven years ago. It’s been a long, difficult road. Working together, ABA, the state associations, and our grassroots bankers pushed this legislation across the goal line. Our conservative estimate is that the new shareholder provisions will immedi- ately help at least 500 banks that have been affected by the outdated threshold and its associated regulatory burden. The credit unions were also on Capitol Hill during our summit—out- numbering us 4 to 1. Even so, bankers continued to push back—loud and clear—against legislation that would give more bank-like powers to tax- avoiding credit unions. Our summit bankers also continued to build support for the exam fairness bills (S. 2160 and H.R. 3461)—legisla- tion that offers solutions to the many problems banks have been reporting about their examinations, from un- timely reports to a lack of an effective appeals process. In fact, we gained 21 co-sponsors for the bills in the week following bankers’ visits. As I told the bankers at the sum- mit, our industry needs to be front and center, aggressive and unapologetic, because we are both right on the issues and indispensible to America. Banking is the white-hat industry. The bankers responded with energy and enthusiasm, and their commitment to advocacy provided a very clear ex- ample of what we can accomplish, and howwe canmake a difference, together. The ABA Government Relations Summit represents the largest bank- ing political advocacy event of the year. We not only speak to power, we exercise it.  Washington Update Where were you March 19-21? If you were in Washington, D.C., with your fellow Nebraska bankers attending the largest-ever ABA Government Relations Summit, thank you. There’s no question that you made a difference. PowerTalk Frank Keating , President & CEO, American Bankers Association Reach Frank Keating by email at fkeating@aba.com.