President’s Column

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Welcome 2017, and What’s Ahead for Us?

An unexpected election result in November changed the landscape and our expectations for banking policies. I thought I should try to set out some of our priorities for the new Congress and the Trump administration, and set the stage for what in theory could be a very productive year in Washington. The potential for positive change is because the landscape our regulators and legislators now face has changed. We have a Republican House, Senate and White House, and that arguably increases the chances for pro-banking legislation making it to the President’s desk. What we will have to see is what part or parts of revised laws and regs our new President will sign. We think at this time he leans in our favor. Know this however, nothing of importance will be done without some bipartisan support. For any bill to be enacted, it still needs 60 votes in the Senate. Our industry is starting 2017 with our advocacy efforts much more clearly defined and with a much friendlier atmosphere for banking. This includes on the regulatory side, where new leadership at the agencies will provide many significant opportunities to improve banking conditions. The Trump administration will have the task of appointing new heads of the OCC (Comptroller Curry’s term expires in March 2017), FDIC (Chairman Gruenberg’s term expires in November 2017), Federal Reserve Board (Chairman Yellen’s term as chair expires in February 2018) and the CFPB (Director Richard Cordray’s term expires in July 2018). We are looking forward to the opportunity to work with new leadership at these and other key regulatory agencies. AmBA’s Government Relations Council leadership and ABA’s Board of Directors considered this new landscape in mid-December when they deliberated our policy priorities for the coming year, which include mortgage lending regulatory relief, elimination of arbitrary asset thresholds, simpler capital rules, charter choice, compliance rules that genuinely help us help customers and more. Bankers also discussed the value of advocating policy solutions that are outside banks’ bottomline interest but that help the economy grow and

PRESIDENT & CEO BILL HOLMES

BILL HOLMES PRESIDENT/CEO 501.978.3602 | bill.holmes@arkbankers.org ABA STAFF

CARLA BRINKLEY VP/CONTROLLER 501.978.3608 | carla.brinkley@arkbankers.org

AVA F. ROBERTS VP/DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS 501.978.3606 | ava.roberts@arkbankers.org

JESSICA SAHENE MARKETING COORDINATOR 501.978.3609 | jessica.sahene@arkbankers.org

HEATHER HAILE COMMUNICATIONS INTERN 501.978.3603 | marketing@arkbankers.org

BARRY JACKSON SVP/COO 501.978.3613 | barry.jackson@arkbankers.org

KAMI T. COLEMAN VP/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 501.978.3614 | kami.coleman@arkbankers.org

TRACI LOGSDON DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS 501.978.3603 | traci.logsdon@arkbankers.org

BRENDA SCARBROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR 501.978.3607 | brenda.scarbrough@arkbankers.org

our customers and communities thrive’ such as student debt relief, urban housing solutions and a stronger Small Business Administration. These big-picture issues align with our lawmaker’s concerns and will reflect the role our bankers play as community leaders and economic stewards. As a sign of how well our industry is united when the NCUA finally published its expansive new field-of-membership rule in December the AmBA responded by immediately filing a lawsuit to stop it. The AmBA lawsuit, combined with ICBA’s challenge of NCUA’s business lending rule, signals joint banker opposition to NCUA’s aggression. The AmBA will be filing an amicus brief in ICBA’s lawsuit, and ICBA has informed us that they will do the same in ours. This collaboration is important and signals a unified industry to our regulators and legislators. One last thought before I close; as I mentioned earlier, a GOP sweep in Congress does not equate to Dodd-Frank’s repeal. Any legislation we seek to update and change will need bipartisan support. And it will have to compete with a crowded agenda of legislative priorities identified by Trump for the start of his administration, namely repealing Obamacare, reforming taxes and strengthening borders. In addition, any legislation will need to see action in the first nine months, before the 2018 election cycle starts influencing lawmaker positions. Everyone knows we have less than 6,000 banks, the fewest number of banks since 1890, and that means we cannot count on the other banks in our community or region to handle the work of advocacy for us. It is important, and necessary, that all of our bankers help tell our stories to our directors, customers, regulators and legislators. And we have to start that communication now. To ensure our priorities are on this congress’ radar, I urge every banker to plan to engage early and often with their lawmakers. We are fortunate to have a seasoned delegation that is supportive and aware of our issues. Please plan on attending the AmBA Government Relations Summit, March 20-22 in Washington. This absolutely needs to be our biggest Summit ever. We typically have 1,000 bankers in attendance, making this the largest industry meeting in Washington. Given all that is at stake, and the potential banks have for achieving much-needed regulatory relief, we would like to see twice that number. So, if you’ve come before, come again and bring a colleague. And if you’ve not attended the Summit, make this the year you start. We need bankers to show up in person, in force and ready to score some wins. For a more detailed list of our banking priorities, please see the copy of AmBA President Rob Nichol’s letter on pages 6 & 7 of this issue, sent to the leadership of the House of Representatives on January 4th. “ ” “To ensure our priorities are on this congress’ radar, I urge every banker to plan to engage early and often with their lawmakers.”

SEAN WILLIAMS | CHAIRMAN First National Bank of Wynne, Wynne JUDY LAWTON | TREASURER Heartland Bank, Little Rock DAVE DICKSON | CHAIRMAN-ELECT Union Bank & Trust Co., Monticello ROBERT Y. TAYLOR | PAST CHAIRMAN The Citizens Bank, Rogers ABA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

CATHERINE OWEN | VICE CHAIRMAN Eagle Bank, Little Rock BILL HOLMES | PRESIDENT/CEO Arkansas Bankers Association, Little Rock

PAT ANDERSON | GROUP 5 Simmons Bank, Pine Bluff PHIL BALDWIN | GROUP 2 Citizens Bank, Batesville JIM CARGILL | GROUP 2 Arvest Bank, Little Rock GENE CRAWFORD | GROUP 5 First National Bank of Crossett, Crossett DAVID DOWD | GROUP 1 Cross County Bank, Wynne TROY DUKE | GROUP 5 Gateway Bank, Rison DON GIBSON | GROUP 3 Legacy National Bank, Springdale CHRIS GOSNELL | GROUP 4 Farmers Bank & Trust Co., Magnolia SCOTT HANCOCK | GROUP 3 Centennial Bank, Fayetteville ABA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

JON HARRELL | GROUP 3 Generations Bank, Rogers DARWIN HENDRIX | GROUP 4 Bank of Delight, Delight J. MICHAEL JONES | GROUP 5 Merchants & Farmers Bank, Dumas CRAIG MOBLEY | GROUP 4 First Financial Bank, El Dorado WILSON MOORE | GROUP 2 Bank of America, Little Rock

JERRY MORGAN | GROUP 1 Focus Bank, Jonesboro RANDY SCOTT | GROUP 1 Farmers Bank & Trust Co., Blytheville JIM TAYLOR | GROUP 3 First Security Bancorp, Fayetteville LYNN WRIGHT | GROUP 2 Regions Bank, Little Rock