Election 2024: Live coverage

16d ago

Pro-crypto House member Schiff wins Senate seat in California

As California counts votes in this year's U.S. Senate race, early results show the seat will go to Adam Schiff, a Democrat who currently represents the state's 30th Congressional District just outside of Los Angeles, encompassing the city of Burbank.

Schiff defeated Steve Garvey, who is a Republican and former Major League Baseball player for the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987, to win the safely Democratic seat. Schiff chaired the House Intelligence Committee from 2019 to 2023 and was the lead impeachment manager in the first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

Schiff has taken a number of positions that are important to bankers, including backing legislation that would claw back bonuses and stock profits from executives at banks that fail, a bill that would regulate what he calls the "revolving door" between the financial services industry and its regulators, and pro-cryptocurrency positions that have earned him the backing of a pro-crypto policy advocacy group.

Read more about Schiff's election here.

16d ago

Rep. French Hill handily wins re-election

By Ebrima Santos Sanneh

Rep. French Hill, R-Ark.

Bloomberg News

Rep. French Hill won re-election to Arkansas's 2nd district. The Associated Press called the race Tuesday night.

His victory — which was widely expected — could result in the lawmaker chairing the influential House Financial Services Committee if Republicans retain their House majority.

Hill, a former banker who has been in office since 2014, would likely prioritize oversight of bank regulatory bodies and reducing what he sees as excessive regulatory burden on firms.

Hill has also prioritized advocates for U.S. leadership in digital asset regulation, and has played a major part in bipartisan efforts to create a regulatory framework for digital assets.

Read more about Hill's race to run the committee here.

16d ago

Why the Supreme Court matters for bankers this election

By Kyle Campbell

Bloomberg News

The next batch of presidentially appointed regulators will operate in a significantly different legal environment than the current group. Four Supreme Court decisions from the past year — Cantero v. Bank of America, Corner Post, Inc. v. the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and SEC v. Jarkesy — are expected to meaningfully alter the relationship between regulators of all stripes and the industries they oversee.

The rulings impact various agency functions, including extending the period during which rulemakings can be challenged and distinguishing between state and federal jurisdiction. The most impactful piece of jurisprudence came from the court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, overturning the long-standing precedent known as the Chevron Doctrine, in which courts were instructed to defer to agencies on interpretations of unclear legal statutes.

Industry advocates say the change will provide a needed check on regulatory overreach while agency proponents argue that the new precedent will strip policy power from subject matter experts and give it to ideological jurists.

Michelle Alt, co-founder of the consultancy Klaros Group and a former lawyer for the OCC, said the decisions will not only limit the ability for the next administration to advance new regulations, they will also have a chilling effect on agencies' use of other discretionary powers, such as issuing enforcement actions.

"With regard to banking regulation, it won't matter much who sits in the White House, because the Supreme Court has already significantly altered the balance of power away from the executive branch," Alt said. "Certainly, agency heads will have an influence on policy, but their ability to carry it out will be significantly curbed."

17d ago

Andy Barr slides easily into Kentucky win

By Claire Williams

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky.

Bloomberg News

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., has won re-election to the U.S. House, The Associated Press said.

Barr is one of the leading contenders to lead Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee next Congress after the retirement of the panel's chairman, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. He already holds the chairmanship of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, which deals with the vast majority of banking issues in the lower chamber.

"Tonight, the voters of central Kentucky sent a resounding message," Barr said in his victory speech Tuesday evening in Lexington, Kentucky. "They rejected the failed policies of Kamala Harris and the radical left. They said no to the reckless ending and over regulation that have fueled skyrocketing inflation."

Barr's bid for chairmanship will depend on whether or not Republicans maintain the House. Should the chamber flip to Democrats, he would have to decide whether he would pursue the ranking member spot. His competitors for the lead Republican on the panel include Reps. French Hill of Arkansas, Bill Huizenga of Michigan and Frank Lucas of Oklahoma.

Read more about Barr's HFSC bid here.

17d ago

Warren: ‘The CFPB is here to stay’

By Catherine Leffert

Al Drago/Bloomberg

Sen. Elizabeth Warren D-Mass. touted her role in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during her Tuesday night victory speech following the news that she would hold onto her seat for a third term.

The direction of the CFPB hangs in flux, depending on whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump wins the presidential election. If Trump wins, it's possible that the bureau's director, Rohit Chopra, will be fired, and his regulatory agenda is stalled.

Still, Warren counted the work the CFPB has done so far as a success.

"We beat the big banks on Wall Street and cracked down on overdraft and junk fees," Warren said. "I led the charge to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – go CFPB – and now, with a cop on the beat, big banks have been forced to return more than $20 billion directly to consumers they cheated."

Currently, the agency is working on rolling out or enforcing regulation that would shift the banking industry, including its recently announced open banking rule, a proposal to cut overdraft fees and a bank on the use of medical debt in underwriting.

The agency, which was originally proposed by Warren, before she became a senator, began operating in 2011. Republicans have long tried to stifle the agency's scope of power.

"The CFPB has survived every attack, and I've got news for Wall Street – the CFPB is here to stay," Warren said Tuesday.

The senator also vowed to fight to reduce student debt, make childcare more affordable and increase housing for people like first-time buyers.

17d ago

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks wins Senate seat in Maryland, beating Larry Hogan

By John Heltman

Al Drago/Bloomberg

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks won an open seat for the U.S. Senate from Maryland Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger and former Gov. Larry Hogan.

Hogan, a popular two-time Governor who was seen as the Republican with the best chance of flipping the reliably Democratic seat being vacated by Sen. Ben Cardin, was recruited to enter the race by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Hogan made a name for himself as one of the rare Republicans willing to break with former President Donald Trump during his presidency.

Alsobrooks, who serves as county executive for Prince George's County — a populous county just outside of Washington, D.C. — was a newcomer to statewide politics, but handily defeated Rep. David Trone, D-Md., in the Democratic primary despite Trone's considerable war chest, which he largely funded himself as owner of alcoholic beverage retailer Total Wine & More.

The Maryland Senate race was viewed as a longshot pickup for Senate Republicans in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1.

17d ago

California votes on rent control ballot initiative

By Claire Williams

Bloomberg News

Financial services caught a break this election with no rate cap or any other banking-related initiatives on the ballot in any state, according to an analysis of ballot initiatives by American Banker.

California, however, will vote on a controversial rent control proposal, which could impact the business of bankers in the area.

Proposition 33 would outline how much control local governments have over residential rents, and could allow cities to cap rent prices. Should the measure be passed, it would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, which limits the ability of local governments to control rental housing prices.

Rent control has emerged as a hot topic for bankers in the wake of some troubled large regional banks' exposure to commercial real estate, which includes some rent stabilized housing.

The lack of banking related ballot initiatives, otherwise, is unusual. Typically there's at least a few pocketbook-focused initiatives, such as Arizona's ballot measure in 2022 to approve new limits on medical debt collection, or Nebraska's 2020 interest rate cap initiative.

17d ago

Riley Moore wins House seat in West Virginia

Claire Williams

West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore will represent West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, an area that includes Harpers Ferry and the state's eastern panhandle, in the U.S. House.

The Associated Press called the race at 8:39 p.m.

Moore is known in West Virginia for blacklisting banks from contracts in the state. He's one of the leading Republican state officials in the push against environmental, social and governance, or ESG, policies.

"The issue that we run into is really a conflict of interest, and that's an important term to keep in mind, where we have financial institutions that are boycotting the fossil fuel industries through prohibitions, on lending, investing or otherwise, not based on some risk evaluation, but based on what I view as just political policies," Moore said in an interview with American Banker earlier this year.

Read more coverage of Moore's race here.

17d ago

Crypto and banking interests could diverge after election

By Claire Williams

Bloomberg News

The crypto industry will be looking for a return on their investment in the coming Congress, and an open dialogue with the lawmakers it helped get elected.

And while bank and crypto lobbying has largely converged in the past, such as issues around SAB 121, don't expect that to necessarily continue now that crypto has made its big U.S. politics push.

"In the Republican Party we have many diehard supporters within traditional banking circles who have hated everything that the Biden regulators have offered during the last four years," said Peter Conti-Brown, a financial regulation scholar at Wharton. "And their interests are diametrically opposed to the crypto industry's efforts to become more like banks."

We'll have to wait until after the election to see the way these dynamics take shape, he said.

"Here's the truth about crypto and nearly all aspects of banking reform: we simply have no idea which ways the winds will blow in either Administration," he said. "Both Trump and Harris represent mysteries about the nature of the coalitions that they have assembled."

17d ago

Warren wins third senate term in Massachusetts

By Catherine Leffert

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Bloomberg News

Sen. Elizabeth Warren D-Mass. won her third term in a victory against her Republican challenger and cryptocurrency advocate John Deaton.

Warren is one of the fiercest critics of Wall Street in Congress, known for flaming big banks, regulators and corporate executives. As a member of the Senate Committees on Finance and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, she has spoken out on issues like major mergers, compliance enforcement and consumer protection rules.

The Associated Press called the race at 8 p.m., when polls closed.

Recently, the senator has called for prosecution of TD Bank Group leaders following the company's massive anti-money-laundering failures in the U.S. and for a higher capital ratio at the once-beleaguered Flagstar Financial (previously known as New York Community Bank).

Deaton had the backing of digital asset heavyweights like the Winklevoss twins and Mark Cuban, as well as crypto executives like Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Ethereum and Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, per Politico.

Warren has called for increased regulation of the crypto sector, an industry that has responded in turn by funneling money into political spending this cycle. A crypto political action committee called Fairshake has spent more than $100 million on races. Fairshake shelled out money to defeat Rep. Katie Porter D-Calif., a former student of Warren's, in the California Senate primary.

17d ago

Basel III endgame not dead under Trump

By Kyle Campbell

Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision Michael Barr

Bloomberg News

While a Trump presidency would mean relief from some Biden-era regulations, it would not necessarily be the end of Washington's most controversial bank regulatory proposal.

The joint capital reform proposal from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency could still be implemented, even if Republicans have full control of the White House and Congress, Karen Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics said.

"The common wisdom that if Trump wins, capital rules are out, is oversimple," Petrou said. "Maybe it comes to that in the end, but there's going to be a lot of back and forth before that happens."

A Trump win ensures that the revised version of the so-called Basel III endgame — as outlined by Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr — would not be finalized as-is, Petrou said. Instead, the proposal will go through another notice and comment rulemaking process that will result in further changes.

But, despite their successful lobbying effort against the original proposal, Petrou said she does not expect banks to push for the revisions to be abandoned altogether, noting that many of her clients see value in parts of the framework.

"I don't think people should assume the current capital regime would suddenly remain as-is," she said. "There are a lot of things that the industry is not only willing to see changed, but would like to see changed."

17d ago

Would community banks get a ‘Trump bump’ if he wins again? Maybe, First Bank CEO says

By Claire Williams

Patrick Ryan is CEO of First Bank in Hamilton, N.J.

Community banks saw what some called a "Trump bump" after the 2016 election, said Patrick Ryan, CEO of First Bank in New Jersey.

"The idea was that taxes were going to go down and banks were going to make more money, and probably as important, the regulatory environment might ease a little bit," he said. "There's some that are theorizing that it might have a similar impact this time around, but that's a little hard to say."

Still, there is "a reason to believe" that bank stocks and banks would marginally outperform under another Trump administration, compared to a Harris one, he said.

Ryan, also chair of the New Jersey Bankers Association, said that his trade group has been more involved this election cycle.

"We've made it a strategic priority to just become more visible and get more involved and have more conversations."

"I think individual banks are trying to play nice with everybody and not take sides and work well with whatever administration wins," he added.

17d ago

Race to Watch: Iowa's 3rd Congressional district

By Ebrima Santos Sanneh

Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa

Bloomberg News

The race for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District is pivotal, featuring incumbent Republican Zach Nunn and Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam, both military veterans.

Nunn, who narrowly won the seat in 2023, has garnered strong support from the banking sector, receiving endorsements from the American Bankers Association and Iowa Bankers Association. These organizations praise his pro-business stance, particularly his support for the ACRE Act, which aims to assist rural lenders by excluding from gross income any interest earned on loans secured by farm real estate, aquaculture facilities, and certain rural home mortgages.

Pollsters have classified the race for the district — which stretches from Des Moines to Iowa's southern border — as a "toss-up," and significant outside funding has flowed into the race. The results of this closely watched contest could significantly influence the GOP's narrow majority in the House.

Read the full story here.

17d ago

Race to Watch: Ohio Senate

By Claire Williams

Senate Banking Committee chair Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio

Bloomberg News

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and one of the more stalwart progressive Democratic lawmakers on banking issues, is locked in a tight race with Republican challenger Bernie Moreno for re-election. Polls opened in the state at 6:30 a.m. and will close at 7:30 p.m. We'll likely know the results of Ohio's races before other battleground states, because officials are allowed to get a head start on processing early and absentee ballots.

The race is one of the toughest of Brown's career. He successfully defeated Republicans in the now firmly Trump-held state in his last elections, but finds himself virtually tied with Moreno, according to the most recent polling from the state, conducted by Emerson College polling. Brown led the Senate Banking Committee through the Silicon Valley Bank regional bank crisis last year, and ushered legislation through the committee after that crisis to make it easier to claw back the compensation of failed bank executives.

He referenced some of his work as a standard bearer of progressive populism on financial issues in one of his last campaigning moves of the 2024 season: An op-ed published at Fox News.

"Ohioans know I'll always fight for them, and side with workers over Wall Street, with patients over drug companies, with Ohio families over the corporations raising their prices," he said.

American Banker dove deep into the Ohio Senate race and what it means for banks and finance in a Bankshot podcast episode: Red as Rust — Sherrod Brown's battle for Ohio's populist vote.

17d ago

Uncertainty looms for banks regardless of election outcome

By John Heltman

Bloomberg News

The banking industry has generally favored former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election due to his anti-regulatory stance toward banks and industry in general, while the expectation among bankers has been that Vice President Kamala Harris would continue the regulatory agenda that began under President Biden.

But whatever Harris' regulatory agenda ultimately is, it will likely be pursued through regular order and by regulatory agencies whose rules and norms are well understood by banks. Trump, by contrast, has made reforming the administrative state a centerpiece of his campaign, with the stated goal being to reform the civil service in such a way that more career civil servants — who have traditionally served regardless of which party is in power — excusable at will. That could have unpredictable implications for the banking industry.

Read the full opinion article here.

17d ago

Pro-crypto California Democrat positioned to win Senate seat

By Carter Pape

Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, is running for Senate.

Al Drago/Bloomberg

No matter which metric you use — polling, betting markets, or the consensus of election pundits — Adam Schiff, a House Democrat currently representing a congressional district just outside of Los Angeles, appears positioned to win the open Senate seat in the Golden State.

Schiff is generally regarded as pro-cryptocurrency, having received an A rating from cryptocurrency advocacy group Stand With Crypto. This year, he voted in favor of a bill to set up a regulatory regime for cryptocurrency. The bill, known as FIT21, received broad bipartisan support in the House.

But, unlike four other senators who have received an A rating from Stand With Crypto, he has not received the group's endorsement. His campaign also has not received any direct funding from pro-crypto political action committee (PAC) Fairshake. That's according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that analyzes campaign finance data.

However, Fairshake did run advertisements in the primary election against Schiff's Democratic opponent, crypto skeptic Katie Porter. In the deeply blue state of California, this ad spending likely went further to determine the outcome of the general election than ad spending in the general election itself would have, since Schiff is now running against a Republican, Steve Garvey.

Also of note: Laphonza Butler, who currently holds the seat for which Garvey and Schiff are competing, enjoys a seat on the Senate Banking Committee. Butler is not running for re-election, so that seat will be up for grabs in the new Congress.

17d ago

Jamie Dimon asks Americans to 'find common ground'

By Catherine Leffert

JPMorgan Chase President and CEO Jamie Dimon

Bloomberg News

JPMorganChase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon called for unity on Election Day. The longtime leader of America's biggest bank said in a prepared statement Tuesday that people need to come together behind whoever is elected president in what has been "one of the hardest fought and at times divisive elections in our recent history."

"We must begin the work of bringing our nation together and focusing on the pressing economic and global issues before us," Dimon said.

The executive of the $4 trillion-asset bank has stopped short of endorsing a specific candidate, though he has spoken out against regulatory policies throughout the years. The New York Times reported that Dimon has voiced support for Vice President Kamala Harris in private.

"This is a time that requires all of us to find common ground and most importantly, a time to

respect and uphold our democratic process," Dimon said in his Tuesday statement. "Our country is the envy of the world and if we can work together, we will ensure that it stays that way for generations to come."

17d ago

Race to watch: Wisconsin Senate

By Catherine Leffert

Republican Senate candidate for Wisconsin Eric Hovde

Bloomberg News

Eric Hovde could be the only senator to own a bank, if the tight race against two-term Sen. Tammy Baldwin D-Wis. goes his way tonight.

But it may take until well after 8 p.m. Tuesday, when polls close, until unofficial results are announced, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said at a Monday news conference.

Hovde, chairman and CEO of Sunwest Bank in Utah, was within two percentage points of Baldwin's lead in the days leading up to Election Day, according to polls, but the fight has been competitive as Wisconsin remains a crucial state in determining whether Republicans or Democrats will control the senate.

If Hovde prevails, it could mean a seat on the Senate Banking committee, breaking from the usual for the Badger State. But it's not entirely clear what would then happen with his $3 billion-asset financial institution, which has operations across the West and in Florida.

Last month, Hovde said In an interview with American Banker that he would step back from the day-to-day work of running Sunwest, but likely wouldn't sell his stake in the bank. , which the Democratic Party in Wisconsin has pointed to as a conflict of interest.

Hovde has highlighted his banking experience as an advantage, if he were elected.

"I've spent most of my career around the banking industry, turning around dozens of banks," he said in the October interview. "I've seen over 30 years the amount of resources, the amount of people and time just to comply with regulations, it's gone up exponentially."

17d ago

How the election could impact interchange fees

By Mary de Wet

Bloomberg News

Trump and Harris have been notably quiet on a number of key banking issues, but advocates predict that the track records and allies of both candidates will create a tougher regulatory environment for the payments landscape in the coming years.

Interchange fees, which are incurred between the consumer and merchant banks to account for the cost of processing card payments, have been a hotly debated topic among regulators and the Supreme Court for the last few years.

Even with the proposal this year by Visa and Mastercard to reduce and limit credit card interchange rates as part of a settlement, which was rejected by merchants as insufficient, the charges are still being widely debated in Congress and on a state level.

"I think the payment industry is going to have to steel itself for a challenging four years no matter who wins," Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures, said in an interview with American Banker's John Adams.

Read the full article here.

17d ago

Race to Watch: California's 47th Congressional district

By Kevin Wack

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif.

Bloomberg News

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., who has served in Congress since 2018 and has been a vocal critic of the banking industry and advocate for consumers, is not running for re-election after her failed bid for the Democratic primary for the state's U.S. Senate seat. Running to replace her are her erstwhile Republican opponent Scott Baugh and Democratic law professor David Min, whose progressive policy stances are similar to Porter's.

Read the full story here.

17d ago

How campaign promises could impact monetary policy

By Kyle Campbell

Bloomberg News

Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have promised to make big changes to the country's fiscal policy, including changes to the tax code, tariffs and federal spending. Those changes could change the Federal Reserve's trajectory for monetary policy, since the central bank is increasingly vigilant about stamping out inflation.

Read the full story here.

17d ago

Bank stocks rise along with markets as investors await election results

By Polo Rocha

Bloomberg News

Banks were performing in line with the broader market on Tuesday, with the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index rising 1%. The index has surged 25% this year, as the Federal Reserve has started to cut interest rates and worries over a looming recession have eased.

Investors are "waking up to the fact that it's not Armageddon," said Kevin Gordon, a top investment strategist at Charles Schwab, adding that the sharp downturn where banks "tend to get smacked the hardest" seems unlikely soon. Banks did report some worsening in their loan portfolios last quarter, but their balance sheets remain "relatively solid" overall, Gordon said.

Read more about how bank stocks are reacting to election news and today's economic indicators.

17d ago

These are some of the biggest bank donors this election cycle

By Claire Williams

While crypto dominated most political spending this election cycle, a number of bankers made hefty bets on different campaigns and groups.

Jim Walton, a member of one of the wealthiest families in America and the Arvest Bank chairman, gave $5 million to Americans for Prosperity Action on two occasions. The group, which is affiliated with the Koch brothers, supports conservative and libertarian candidates.

Walton's other large donations also includes $2 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which aims to build a Republican majority in the upper chamber.

A surprise major donor this cycle includes Walter Schlaepfer, who's registered as an investment adviser and broker with JPMorgan Securities LLC. He gave $1 million to former President Donald Trump's Super PAC Make America Great Again on May 31, the same day Trump was convicted of 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election.

Wences Casares also dropped a few large contributions during this election cycle. Casares is the founder and CEO of Xapo Bank, a small crypto bank headquartered in Gibraltar that doesn't operate in the United States. He gave $250,000 to Fairshake, the crypto Super PAC that's largely supported Republican candidates, but who's donated across the aisle to a few crypto-friendly Democrats as well. Casares also gave $100,000 to American Values 2024, a Robert Kennedy Jr. group.

Robert Marling, the former CEO of Texas-based Woodforest National Bank, which has a heavy presence in Walmart stores, continued to donate heavily to Republican groups. Among his largest donations, he gave $250,000 to the Trump Super PAC Make America Great Again Action and Club for Growth, a conservative group. Denny Sanford, who owns First Premier Bank in South Dakota, also gave to conservative causes, including Make America Great Again.

17d ago

CFPB's Chopra could get second term in Harris adminsitration

By Mary de Wet

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Rohit Chopra

Bloomberg News

If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency, she may extend Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra's leadership when his term ends in September 2026. Chopra has plenty of items still on his plate, including additional rulemakings related to open banking, likely focused on mortgages, cracking down on big bank overdraft fees, banning the use of medical debt, and addressing mortgage closing costs. If he chooses to leave, potential candidates to succeed him include former California Rep. Katie Porter and CFPB general counsel Seth Frotman.

Read the full article here.

17d ago

Bank group urges bankers to make friends across political spectrum

By Kyle Campbell

Regardless of electoral outcomes, governing margins are expected to be narrow in the next Congress. Because of this, industry groups are urging bankers not to limit their support along party lines.

According to the Cook Political Report, an independent, non-partisan policy analytics firm, Republicans are projected to take control of the Senate next year by flipping at least two seats currently occupied by Democrats. The open race in West Virginia is strongly in their favor and Sen. John Tester, D-Mont., is rated a slight underdog to his challenger Tim Sheehy. Four other Democrat-occupied seats are listed as toss-ups.

With control of the White House and House of Representatives effectively a coin-toss, Republicans have the better chance of single-party control. But even if they secure power on all three fronts, their margins for legislative success will remain thin, with the filibuster-proof 60-vote majority out of reach in the Senate and a fractious conference in the House that will be hard to corral on certain issues.

In light of this, Kirsten Sutton, the American Bankers Association's top lobbyist, encouraged bankers across the country at an industry conference last week to build alliances wherever possible, even with politicians whose non-banking policy opinions differ from their own.

"We just encourage you to remember, don't neglect the people that we may not like or may not agree with," Sutton told attendees at the ABA's annual conference in October. "We can't afford to do that in this environment. We don't even have to be friends, just identifying that shared value so that we can push forward and get some wins."

BankPac, the ABA's political action committee, raised and distributed more than $3.4 million to candidates and other committees between January 1, 2023 and October 16, 2024, according to Federal Elections Commission data.

Roughly $1.4 million of that spending went to Republican candidates while more than $750,000 to support Democrats, according to the campaign finance watchdog group OpenSecrets, with the balance going to other political action groups.

"I, through the BankPac, give money to members of Congress that I don't agree with," said ABA Chief Policy Officer Naomi Camper during last month's conference. "But those members who we support through BankPac support the banking industry and share our banking values."

17d ago

Bankers favor Trump for regulatory relief

By Frank Gargano

This election cycle has been more of a guessing game than those in the past, as both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have sparingly offered glimpses into their policy priorities.

"What's unique and challenging about this election is that both candidates are unclear as to what they'll do," Aaron Klein, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, said in an interview with American Banker's Claire Williams.

Despite this, data gathered in a recent survey by Arizent, the publisher of American Banker, found that roughly half of all respondents from banks with $100 billion of assets or more felt that Trump winning a second term would be best for the industry solely from a regulatory and policy perspective.

This sentiment held true across the rest of those surveyed. Sixty-nine percent of those who work at banks with between $10 billion and $100 billion of assets, 76% from community banks with less than $10 billion of assets and 60% at credit unions of all asset classes all followed suit in saying Trump is the better choice.

In addition to recent statements pursuing a temporary cap of 10% on credit card interest rates and establish a sovereign wealth fund to provide backing for infrastructure projects, Trump has touted a more aggressive stance on rolling back regulations and is bullish on the opportunities created by cryptocurrencies.

"Instead of attacking industries of the future, we will embrace them, including making America the world capital for crypto and bitcoin," Trump said in a speech during an Economic Club of New York event in September.

See more survey results on our Election page.

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Election 2024: Live coverage

From dollar to stocks, Trump trade erupts across markets

Trump wins presidency; to usher in an era of less regulation for banks

Tester loss delivers another critical blow to Senate Dems

Sherrod Brown defeated in Ohio

Pro-crypto House member Schiff wins Senate seat in California

Rep. French Hill handily wins re-election

Why the Supreme Court matters for bankers this election

Andy Barr slides easily into Kentucky win

Warren: ‘The CFPB is here to stay’

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks wins Senate seat in Maryland, beating Larry Hogan

California votes on rent control ballot initiative

Riley Moore wins House seat in West Virginia

Crypto and banking interests could diverge after election

Warren wins third senate term in Massachusetts

Basel III endgame not dead under Trump

Would community banks get a ‘Trump bump’ if he wins again? Maybe, First Bank CEO says

Race to Watch: Iowa's 3rd Congressional district

Race to Watch: Ohio Senate

Uncertainty looms for banks regardless of election outcome

Pro-crypto California Democrat positioned to win Senate seat

Jamie Dimon asks Americans to 'find common ground'

Race to watch: Wisconsin Senate

How the election could impact interchange fees

Race to Watch: California's 47th Congressional district

How campaign promises could impact monetary policy

Bank stocks rise along with markets as investors await election results

These are some of the biggest bank donors this election cycle

CFPB's Chopra could get second term in Harris adminsitration

Bank group urges bankers to make friends across political spectrum

Bankers favor Trump for regulatory relief

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