The “Not-So-Political” Political Article If you are like me, you’re already completely fatigued with politics, and more specifically, the November presidential election. I’ve heard that this will be the longest presidential campaign ever since the Democrat and Republican candidates have already been determined. Perhaps a long-extended vacation to avoid the oncoming barrage of political campaign ads would be the best bet for us all. Please know the purpose of this article is not to endorse a presidential candidate. KBA does not and should not be in the business of doing that — there are plenty of other organizations to fill that role. After all, there are many Republican, Democrat and Independent Kansas bankers, and the KBA has a strong tradition of working well with policymakers from all facets of the political spectrum. Rather, the purpose of this article is to remind us that who a newly elected president appoints to lead the various banking regulatory posts can have huge implications for our industry. Like many of you, I am blessed to be part of a multigenerational community banking family. From my earliest recollections, my grandfather and father were people who helped the citizens of the community of Girard to grow their farms, businesses and personal lives. Regrettably, the current bank regulatory climate is the worst in my lifetime. If you had told me five or 10 years ago that the ABA, state banking associations and other business organizations would someday be compelled to file six lawsuits against the Federal banking regulators, I wouldn’t have believed it. As an industry, we have reached an unprecedented level of regulatory overreach and we have presidentially appointed regulatory officials who seem to be pressing harder than ever for new costly regulations or harmful restrictions that threaten the viability and sustainability of our banks. It’s become a challenge to simply keep track of all the regulatory overreach lawsuits that have been filed. I asked our very own Kathy Taylor, KBA’s EVP & general counsel, to give me a list of the current lawsuits banking associations have filed against Federal regulators, and they are as follows: CFPB: • Challenge to funding as unconstitutional. • Challenge to expansion of UDAP authority in exam manual. • Challenging constitutionality of implementation of Section 1071. • Challenging the final rule on cap of credit card late fees. FDIC: • Challenging constitutionality of guidance on multiple fees for represented items. All Federal Regulators: • Challenging final CRA rule as being beyond regulatory authority. CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE Mark Schifferdecker, Chairman, KBA 6
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