Welcome to the ABA Banking Journal newsletter, a free, twice-monthly supplement to the ABA Banking Journal magazine intended to help you stay on top of industry and policy news.
You can also stay abreast of banking news by visiting aba.com/BankingJournal, home to ABA Daily Newsbytes and other email bulletins.
Industry News
The financial-services industry relies on the healthy interdependence of banks of all sizes. While there is powerful temptation in the current economic climate to frame issues as simple stories of big versus small or Main Street versus Wall Street, but the financial-services industry does not conform to simple narratives. It is a complex ecosystem, because there is no other way to effectively serve America’s vast array of customers and clients. (Wall Street Journal)
Visit http://www.wsj.com/articles/large-banks-and-small-banks-are-allies-not-enemies-1459899641 to view the full article online.
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Fintech is in the midst of a golden age of investment and innovation. According to KPMG and CB Insights, investments in fintech startups doubled between 2014 and 2015, to $14 billion. However, comparatively little of this money has been focused on the $138 billion market opportunity to disrupt alternative financial services in the United States. (TechCrunch)
Visit http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/06/fintechs-138-billion-opportunity/ to view the full article online.
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Policy News
Earlier this week, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced an ABA-supported bill intended to rein in the Justice Department’s Operation Choke Point, which sought to curtail disfavored businesses by working through regulators to pressure financial institutions to end customer relationships with these businesses. (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2016/04/sens-cruz-lee-introduce-aba-backed-anti-choke-point-bill/ to view the full article online.
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In the latest round of public feedback on the "living wills" or resolution plans that the largest banks file to demonstrate they can be wound down in an orderly way, the Federal Reserve and FDIC today deemed the plans filed by five to be "not credible" or inadequate to facilitate an orderly resolution under the Bankruptcy Code. Each of these firms "must remediate its deficiencies" by Oct. 1, 2016, the agencies said. (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2016/04/agencies-find-bank-living-wills-not-credible/ to view the full article online.
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The Department of Labor’s newly finalized rule expanding the definition of who counts as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act is estimated to cost $31.5 billion over the next decade, along with requiring nearly 57,000 hours in compliance efforts. The final rule’s cost estimate was significantly higher than the $5.7 billion identified when the rule was proposed last year, according to a new study. (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2016/04/fiduciary-rule-compliance-estimated-at-more-than-31-5-billion/ to view the full article online.
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The U.S. Department of Labor is expected to publish final regulations early this summer that will significantly increase the number of employees in the banking industry that must be paid overtime. The final rule is expected to more than double the salary level required for an employee to be eligible for an exemption from overtime and as a result, many banks will face difficult operational challenges assessing the need to reclassify employees as well as potentially negative employee reactions. (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2016/04/the-final-overtime-rule-is-coming-soon-heres-how-to-begin-preparing/ to view the full article online.
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"A handful of companies have achieved such astonishing size and reach in the past decade that the sudden collapse of any would be potentially catastrophic to the economy." Greg Ip is talking about Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon but could also be talking about J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup. "The difference is that no one wants to break up the first group but everyone, it seems, wants to break up the second," he writes, cautioning regulators to consider the costs to customers and the economy before doing so. (Wall Street Journal)
Visit http://www.wsj.com/articles/big-banks-have-risksand-benefits-1460564960 to view the full article online.
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Training
April 17-19
San Antonio, TX
April 20-22
Washington, DC
May 1-6
Dallas, TX
May 2-6
Washington, DC
June 2-9
Philadelphia, PA
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