Pub. 7 2018 Issue 6

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 18 N.1817 An independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. bcbsks.com Farmers Alliance encourages employee health. Workplace Wellness Ryan Hicks • VP, Human Resources • Farmers Alliance, McPherson, KS We believe a healthy work/life balance is important. Our workplace wellness program offers a workout facility, education and assistance to help employees live healthier lifestyles. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas are partners in our success. Their onsite and online education and support are made especially for our needs. Companies of any size can benefit from helping employees live healthier lives. It’s just the right thing to do.” “ “ “ That’s real progress, and it’s thanks to bankers owning their role in the political and policy-making process. You identified the problems, helped craft solutions and explained to lawmakers why they mattered. As tempting as it is to spend the rest of this column spiking the ball and congratulating us all on a job well done, I won’t. Because even more work lies ahead. Not only is there so much more Congress can do to right-size financial rules, but a quick scan of the effective dates of S. 2155’s provisions shows that Congress made about one- third of the laws’ changes effective immediately; the rest were punted to the regulatory agencies to handle. (You can find a list of effective dates at aba.com/s2155. ) That means a lot of regulatory proposals and guidance is still to come. Bankers will need to be part of each rulemaking to ensure the banking agencies implement the law as intended. Here’s just one example of why staying involved will matter. Among the provisions to be implemented is a variation of one that ABA and the state associations first suggested, relieving highly capitalized community banks (those under $10 billion in assets) from the complex Basel III capital standards. Congress directed the banking agencies to designate such banks using a simple leverage ratio that is somewhere in the 8-to-10 percent range. If regulators choose 8 percent, around 95 percent of banks under $10 billion could be eligible for the relief. If they choose 10 percent, only two-thirds of those banks would qualify. We believe 8 percent is a logical and appropriate threshold and will need bankers’ help to make that case. In addition to S. 2155 implementation, the new crop of leaders at the banking agencies are eyeing other improvements to rules that can be done through regulatory fiat. These include modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act and updating Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering rules, not to mention a top-to-bottom review of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rules and actions. So for those who might be thinking that S. 2155’s enactment means fewer trips to Washington to plead your case, think again. Your engagement remains vital to improving the policy environment for banks — the focus just shifts from lawmakers to rule makers. Weighing in on the details of proposed rules is the granular part of advocacy, but it’s just as consequential as helping a bill through Congress. That’s why we’ll be reaching out to bankers when the time comes to help us shape rulemakings. I hope you’ll respond with as much passion and commitment to our regulatory action alerts as you did throughout S. 2155’s long, eight-year journey. E-mail Rob Nichols at nichols@aba.com.