March 17, 2009
Testimony of
Edward L. Yingling
On Behalf of the
AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION
Before the
Committee on Financial Services
United States House of Representatives
March 17, 2009
AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION
2
Testimony of Edward L. Yingling
On Behalf of the American Bankers Association
Before the
Committee on Financial Services
United States House of Representatives
March 17, 2009
Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, and members of the Committee, my name is
Edward L. Yingling. I am President and CEO of the American Bankers Association (ABA). ABA
works to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's banking industry and strengthen America’s
economy and communities. Its members – the majority of which are banks with less than $125
million in assets – represent over 95 percent of the industry’s $13.9 trillion in assets and employ over
2.2 million men and women.
The ABA congratulates the Committee on the approach it is taking to respond to the
financial crisis. There is a great need to act, but to do so in a thoughtful and thorough manner, and
with the right priorities. That is what this Committee is doing. On March 10, Federal Reserve
Board Chairman Bernanke gave an important speech laying out his thoughts on regulatory reform.
He laid out an outline of what needs to be addressed in the near term and why, along with general
recommendations. We are in broad agreement with the points Chairman Bernanke made in that
speech.
Chairman Bernanke focused on three main areas: first, the need for a systemic regulator;
second, the need for a pre-existing method for an orderly resolution of a systemically important
non-bank financial firm; and third, the need to address gaps in our regulatory system. Statements by
the leadership of this Committee have also focused on a legislative plan to address these three areas.
We agree that these three issues – a systemic regulator, a new resolution mechanism, and addressing
gaps – should be