Pub. 5 2017 Issue 1

Issue 1. 2017 17 T wenty-seven Utah bankers including 10 presidents and CEOs, seven UBA board members and seven members of the new Emerging Bank Leaders (the largest number of bankers from Utah ever) joined forces in Washington to make sure that regulators and the congressional delegation know that Utah Bankers are serious about regulatory reform. The group led by UBA Chairman Craig White participated in the American Bankers Association (ABA) Government Relations Summit with 1,500+ bankers from across the country, the largest attendance in the history of the ABA Summit. In addition to dialogue with regulators from the CFPB, FDIC, Feder- al Reserve and OCC attendees were provided with presentations from key members of the House and Senate. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), RankingMember of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee said that “the days of the Senate Banking Committee’s dysfunction and its less than busy work ethic, I hope, are behind us,” expressing an optimistic outlook for the future. After two years of little action on advancing nominations or banking legislation, Brown said that the committee, now under the leadership of Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), has already held a markup of several bipartisan bills and a bipartisan hearing on Russian sanctions. Jeb Hensaring (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, architect of the Financial Choice Act and champion for regulatory reform said that his bill is targeted toward “replacing mind-numbing complexity with simplicity.” “There’s something fundamentally wrong in America when you have to lay off a loan officer to hire a compliance officer,” Hensarling said, acknowledging the significant compliance burden that Dodd-Frank Act’s 25,000 pages of final and proposed regulations have imposed on bankers since 2010. The goal of the Choice Act is to ensure that “a well-capitalized, qualifying bank will be empowered to remove government bureaucrats from its boardroom, and lend and invest freely,” he said. Also speaking was Steve Scalise (R-La) Majority Whip of the House of Representatives, who said that regulatory reform for bankers was on the agenda immediately following the vote for health care reform. As a preview of additional regulatory reform legislation to come, Scalise touted the REINS Act, passed by the House in January, which would help rein in the growth of the administrative state by requiring up-or-down votes by Congress on major regulatory proposals before they take effect. If passed by the Senate and signed by Trump, as expected, the bill would “realign the balance of power” and “bring sanity to the regulatory state,” Scalise said. The highlight of the trip was a visit to Capitol Hill and visits with each of the Utah Congressional Delegation. Utah’s delegation plays a key role in financial reform with Senator Hatch as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Mia Love on the House Financial Services Committee, and Congressman Stewart recently appointed to the House appropriations committee. It was a great trip for all in- volved. Mark your calendar and plan to join us for the Western States Washington Visit scheduled for October 2-5, 2017. n UTAH BANKERS VISIT WASHINGTON TO PUSH FOR REFORM Left to Right: Shannon Hutchings, Medallion Bank; Dave Forsyth, EnerBank: Robin Seydel, Medallion Bank; Will Spencer, Zions Bancorporation; Arlene Dzurnak, Celtic Bank: Kevin Moss, American Express; Carina Freeze, Zions Bancorporation; not present - Spencer White, Utah Independent Bank Bankers in Congressman Chris Stewart’s Office, Left to Right: Will Spencer, Robert Spendlove, Kristin Dittmer, Shannon Hutchings, LeeAnne Linderman, John Haymond, Frank Stepan, Arlene Dzurnak, Robin Seydel, Andrea Moss, Dave Forsyth, Ron Ostler, Carina Freeze, Sheldon Woods, Curt Queyrouze, Spencer White, Craig White, Kent Landvatter, John Jones, Mark Packard, Matt Packard, Kevin Moss.