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
Nearly 11,500 bankers will host financial education events across the country this week in recognition of Teach Children to Save Day today. Bankers will teach students the fundamentals of financial literacy, including the basics of saving, budgeting and how to distinguish needs from wants. This year marks the 20th year of the program, which has reached nearly 8 million children with the help of almost 200,000 bank volunteers since 1997. (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2017/04/bankers-mark-teach-children-to-save-day-today/ to view the full article online.
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At virtually every stage of life, sooner or later everyone runs into an ethical dilemma. No matter what the circumstances, the question at the heart of every ethical dilemma is the same: do you do what’s right, or what you can get away with? (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2017/04/operationalizing-ethics/ to view the full article online.
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Consumers appear to be stumbling in early 2017. Retail sales registered on the weak side in the last two months and, according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve, real consumer spending is tracking at a dismal 0.3 percent growth rate for the first quarter. Will that derail the Fed’s plans for two rate hikes and balance-sheet reduction this year? (Bloomberg View)
Visit https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-25/watch-consumers-for-clues-to-the-fed-s-plans to view the full article online.
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Policy News
Common-sense changes to the current regulatory and legislative framework can help drive economic growth and allow banks to better serve their customers, clients and communities, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols said this week in an interview on Bloomberg TV. While Nichols said that ABA is not seeking a wholesale repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act, he highlighted several changes that could be made to current policy, specifically with regard to the arbitrary asset thresholds that the bill put in place. (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2017/04/nichols-legislative-regulatory-changes-can-help-drive-economic-growth/ to view the full article online.
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As part of the banking industry’s continuing response to President Trump’s executive order outlining "core principles" for financial regulation, ABA published a white paper this week urging federal regulators to make changes to the current stress testing framework for large and midsize banks. While acknowledging that stress testing can be a powerful regulatory tool when properly designed and administered, ABA noted a lack of transparency within the current stress testing framework. (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2017/04/aba-recommends-changes-to-large-midsize-bank-stress-tests/ to view the full article online.
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A senior OCC official reaffirmed today that the agency’s limited-purpose fintech charter would not lead to "light-touch" supervision for fintech companies. "I have to dispel the misperception that once the fintech company would become a national bank, weaker and less effective consumer protections will apply and state law would cease to apply entirely," said Grovetta Gardineer, senior deputy comptroller for compliance and community affairs. (ABA Banking Journal)
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2017/04/occ-fintech-charter-not-a-ticket-to-light-touch-supervision/ to view the full article online.
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