fter a period in which people banking industry experience were not often considered for federal regulatory or oversight roles, banking industry talent is coming back into top government roles, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols says on the latest episode of the ABA Newsbytes Podcast. (ABA Banking Journal)

American voters overwhelmingly are unaware that credit unions pay no federal income taxes, and when told about it, more than half would support a tax reform plan that eliminates the credit union tax exemption to limit deficit increases, according to a survey conducted by Morning Consult for ABA. The federal tax subsidy to credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets amounts to $27 billion over 10 years. (ABA Banking Journal)

Mortgage rates moved higher this week after the U.S. Senate passed its version of the tax bill. But global and domestic events may push them back down. According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 3.94 percent with an average 0.5 point. (Washington Post)

More data and new tools meet their match in a persistently stagnant bank profitability environment. (ABA Banking Journal)

Voice assistants like Alexa and Siri could be the future of banking, as more and more consumers indicate a willingness to interact with their bank through these platforms, a study released this week by NTT Data found. (Bank Innovation)

The possibility of setting the corporate tax rate at 22 percent instead of 20 percent surfaced more strongly in the tax reform debate Thursday, with officials at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue indicating it's under serious consideration. (Politico)

As part of ABA’s long-term engagement with the Treasury Department and financial regulators on the Community Reinvestment Act, the association sent a white paper to Treasury with several recommendations for modernizing the regulatory approach to CRA. (ABA Banking Journal)

ABA applauds the Senate Banking Committee’s passage of S. 2155, the bipartisan regulatory reform bill championed by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), which includes several provisions that are part of ABA’s Blueprint for Growth. (ABA Banking Journal)

International financial regulators reached a long-sought deal this week to harmonize global banking rules, capping a decade of effort to make banks more resilient even if they fell short of their own initial hopes. Facing fierce opposition from the banking industry and calls from the U.S. administration to backtrack on some measures, policymakers struck a compromise agreement on rules forcing banks to hold more capital and cash. (New York Times)

As had been anticipated for some time, the White House last week said that President Trump would nominate Jelena McWilliams to serve as FDIC chairman. McWilliams is EVP and general counsel at Cincinnati-based regional bank Fifth Third, which she joined earlier in 2017. (ABA Banking Journal)