Pub. 9 2014-2015 Issue 5

www.nebankers.org 8 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. A FTER A YEAR OF PERSISTENT, targeted advocacy by bankers, the final days of the 113th Congress came to a close with somemodest yet strategically important victories for our industry. Just days after ABA’s Government Relations Council Administrative Com- mittee arrived in town to hammer out key priorities for 2015, lawmakers passed long-sought legislation that raises the asset threshold for small bank holding companies eligible for regulatory relief from $500 million to $1 billion. The small bank holding company relief bill—which for the first time applies to S&L holding companies, too—will make it easier for community banks and thrifts to issue debt and raise the capital needed to increase lending to local economies. Congress also passed a spending bill that included a repeal of a Dodd-Frank Act ruling related to derivatives trading. That represents the first successful legis- lation to revisit a Dodd-Frank provision that went too far and that even regula- tors admitted was unworkable. Washington Update Building Momentum for the Year Ahead Frank Keating , President & CEO, American Bankers Association Together, the bills provide regula- tory relief to banks small and large. But they were just two of a host of regula- tory relief measures that ABA and the state banking associations pursued this year. While the other measures didn’t cross the finish line, they advanced far enough—some even passing the full House—to position themwell for action in the 114th Congress. These include bills that would: deem mortgage loans held in portfolio “qualified mortgages”; clarify the CFPB’s points-and-fees test; provide a way for banks in rural areas to appeal the CFPB’s “rural” designation; establish an independent ombudsman for exam appeals; and eliminate an- nual privacy notice requirements for banks that haven’t changed their privacy practices. Passing these bills early in the new Congress will be one of ABA’s top priori- ties in 2015. That was a loud-and-clear conclusion of the GRC Administrative Committee, which spent hours discuss- ing the issues of greatest importance to banks. The committee members, who represent every state and institutions of all sizes and charters, agreed that the issues fall into a handful of strategic categories: • Level Playing Field/Charter Choice. Citing the outdated tax advantages and mission creep of credit unions and the FarmCredit System, the com- mittee recommended holding these institutions’ feet to the fire. It also recommended that ABA pursue char- ter flexibility and capital options for savings institutions—while continuing efforts to fix the unfair impact Basel III capital rules and other rules have on Sub S banks. • Impediments to Serving Customers. Bankers reiterated that overzealous regulation and costly compliance hurts consumers by inhibiting banks’ ability to meet their needs. Mortgage rules, Bank Secrecy Act reporting, and complex capital requirements are just a few examples of regulations in need of simplification. • Payments System. We must ensure that all participants—banks and non-