Reports from ABA's Agriculture Banking 
            Conference | Nov 4-6

            Agricultural Banking Policy, Performance, and Outlook 

            John Blanchfield, ABA SVP for Agricultural and Rural Banking, 
            along with Albert Kelly, ABA Chairman, and other bankers 
            recorded twenty four interviews at the ABA 2011 Agricultural 
            Banking Conference. The radio stories cover a variety of issues 
            including agricultural banking policy; crop performance and 
            outlook; and banking regulation.

Reuters Insider | Oct 5

Consumer Delinquencies

CNBC "The Call" | Aug 15

Market Turmoil (appearance at 3m 40s)

ABA President and CEO Frank Keating explains, "There's a regulatory bear hug around a lot of people who do want to lend. Obviously, it's a very soft economy because we're still struggling with leaving one recession, hopefully not going into another. But it's a tough lending environment out there."

FOX Business | Jul 28

Regulatory Burden

ABA President and CEO Frank Keating says, "Right now we're facing the prospect, the reality really, of rules and anticipated rules of some nearly 4,000 federally registered pages in length … The average community bank has about 37 employees. Who's going to read all that stuff?"

FOX Business |  May 4
CFPB Leadership

ABA President and CEO Frank Keating weighs in on CFPB leadership.  "We are a nation of limited government," he said. "The FDIC has a board, the Fed has a board. There's no reason why there can't be an oversight board for this Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as well."

CNBC "Street Signs" |  Mar 30
ATM Fees and Interchange
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "Everybody can avoid ATM fees, including low and moderate income people, they don't pay ATM fees, they simply use the ATM owned by their bank. Choose a bank that is close to an ATM convenient to them."

Small Banks
Gov. Frank Keating, ABA President and CEO believes small banks are paying the price for misdeeds of others.

Interchange
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "The fee covers the cost of providing this 24/7-available system. And it's reliable. It's quick. It's secure. It not only helps maintain it, but it helps improve it. That means innovation. And one of the great concerns here is that, if they don't have the money, you won't see any more innovation." 

Marketplace | Feb 11

The Atlantic's town hall meeting on jobs | Feb 9

CSPAN | Jan 19
ABA Economic Advisory Committee

Stuart Hoffman, acting committee chairman and chief economist of PNC Financial Services Group Inc. says, "That kind of economic growth, we anticipated, would add about just over 2 million jobs over the course of 2011."

CNBC | Jan 11
Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin

James Chessen, ABA chief economist says, "It's really a story about jobs. What happened in the third quarter is the job market stumbled and practically fell. Public sector layoffs were greater than the jobs that the private sector was creating."

North American Agricultural Lenders Conference | Nov 8
Community Bankers

Steve Wilson, ABA chairman says, "There are two and half million bankers that go to work every day in this country in towns all across this great nation that are doing their job like they've always done it. They live in the community, work in the community, play in the community, volunteer in the community and give back to the community every day."

North American Agricultural Lenders Conference | Nov 8
Economy

Keith Leggett, ABA senior economist, says, "We're going to see the Fed is intervening with regard to long term treasury rates and if these interest rates are used as an index for pricing farm loans then you'll see lower interest rates on farm loans."

North American Agricultural Lenders Conference | Nov 8
House & Senate Agricultural Committees

John Blanchfield, ABA SVP of Agricultural and Rural Banking says, "First, the Republicans will bring in their farm policy. And second, it's not clear what the democrat minority will think about in terms of agricultural policy. And increasingly, the agricultural committee of the house is becoming more of a suburban committee versus a deeply rural one. That all means a lot as we come up to the next farm bill."

National Public Radio | Oct 28
Mortgage Lending

Bob Davis, ABA EVP of mortgage markets, financial management & public policy says buyer's regret is simply not a good reason to abandon a home, or leave a community with a vacant home.

WHDH Boston | Oct 25
Loan Modification Scams (appearance at 2m 4s)

Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "The banks and other lenders are very willing to negotiate directly with their customers and that's probably how they're going to get the best deals."

Houston Public Radio | Oct 21
Get Smart About Credit Day

Laura Fisher, executive director of the ABA Education Foundation says Houston-area bankers are volunteering to give classroom lessons. "It's not everyday you have an expert in the classroom and bankers really do have a unique knowledge base because they can bring a lot of information to those students."

CNBC "Squawk on the Street" | Sep 10
Basel III

Mary Frances Monroe, ABA VP for regulatory policy says, "If the smaller banks cannot raise enough capital in the market, they may resort to shrinking their balance sheet."

PBS "Nightly Business Report" | Sep 9
Small Business Lending

Bob Seiwert, ABA SVP for commercial and business banking says, "There's a certain amount of debt that each of us either as an individual or a business owner can handle. They may have been successful in the past in handling that debt, but they need to understand that, through this economic crisis, the landscape has changed."

C-Span "Washington Journal" | Aug 17
Financial Regulatory Reform

James Chessen, ABA chief economist says, "We need to make sure there's a balanced approach so that banks can continue to make good quality loans in their communities, and customers feel they have products and services that they can count on."

PBS "Nightly Business Report" | Jul 9
Credit Card Changes (appearance at 14m 1s)

Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says a new box on your credit card statement "will sum up the amount of fees and the amount of interest paid that month and for that year, so people at the end of the year can look and say, boy, I spent that much on interest. Maybe I should pay down my loan."

CNBC "Street Signs" | Jun 25
Financial Regulatory Reform Bill

ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says the bill "is going to impose thousands of pages … of new regulations on community banks who didn't make any subprime loans, and the end result is going to be less credit."

WNYC "The Brian Lehrer Show" | Jun 18
New Overdraft Rules (11m 28s)

Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "The basic rule is that banks may not impose an overdraft fee for an ATM or a onetime point-of-sale debit card overdraft unless the customer expressly consents. This means that consumers are in driver's seat." 

NBC "Today Show" | Jun 18
ATM Skimming

Doug Johnson, ABA VP of risk management policy says, "You're always going to have some very smart people who are at the top of the chain that are very hard to get to." 

Reuters TV | Apr 26
Financial Regulatory Reform Bill 

ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling explains the politics of the Senate's procedural votes on the reform legislation during a video interview with Reuters financial reporter Karey Wutkowski. 

C-SPAN | Apr 23
Digital Money (appearance at 1h 21m)

Wayne Abernathy, ABA EVP of financial institutions policy and regulatory affairs joins a panel at the American Enterprise Institute discussing digital money and the future of electronic payments. 

CBS Evening News | Apr 22
Financial Regulatory Reform Bill

ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling explains the community-bank stance on the bill saying it "would limit the ability of your local bank to make loans to consumers and to small businesses to create jobs."

CNBC "Kudlow Report" | Apr 19
Financial Regulatory Reform Bill

ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling describes an ABA letter to the Senate in which we identified 27 new or expanded regulations that apply to traditional banks, "Here you have members of Congress all saying, 'Traditional banks had nothing to do with the crisis, we want to support them,' yet you have a bill that has 27 new [or expanded] types of regulations."

FOX News Channel "FOX & Friends" | Apr 7
Health Savings Accounts 

Kevin McKechnie, executive director of the American Bankers Insurance Association says, "We visited with all these congressmen to point out that if you're going to order every American to buy insurance, you've got to have something affordable for them to purchase. The irony here is that we may end up being the life boat for this entire plan."

Reuters TV | Apr 7
Consumer Loan Delinquencies

James Chessen, ABA chief economist says, "I'm encouraged by what consumers have done. The debt-to-income level today is what it was back in 2001. So, it has shown a very consistent pattern. Consumers are really working to get those debt levels down."

FOX Business | Mar 23
Bank Lending

ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling comments on criticism regarding bank lending, "As the President and the Secretary of the Treasury have recently said, we do have a problem with a regulatory overreaction… and so, we have to get the balance right with the regulators.  We have regulators come in and say, 'Well, I know this looks like a perfect loan but I don't want you making any more of those kinds of loans.'"

C-Span | Mar 18
ABA Government Relations Summit
Senate Banking Committee ranking Republican Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) give bankers their views on financial regulatory reform at the ABA GR Summit. 

C-Span | Mar 18
ABA Government Relations Summit
Federal Reserve Bank Presidents participated in a panel titled The Role of Banking in Local Economic Growth. Among their remarks, they defended their role in supervising small community banks, and warned against proposals circulating Congress that would take away this authority. Following their discussion they responded to audience members' questions. 

C-SPAN | Mar 18
ABA Government Relations Summit
Three financial reporters talked about how they cover Capitol Hill in a panel called The Media, Financial Institutions and Your Bank. Topics included the financial regulation overhaul bill making its way through Congress. Following their remarks they responded to audience members' questions. 

NPR "Diane Rehm Show" | Mar 9
Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "A lot of times when people get into credit card debt the underlying problem isn't the credit card debt. It's a life crisis, a medical problem, a divorce, a lost job. And in many cases, the credit card helped people bridge the gap to get through that crisis."

ABC News | Feb 21
Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "I think there was a lot of frustration among a lot of customers and this is Congress and the regulators responding to that frustration."

CBS Evening News | Feb 21
Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "The consumer is in control. If they get a notice that there is a new fee or an increase, they can just say no."

NPR "All Things Considered" | Feb 21
Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "We're in a period of transition, where there's going to be experimentation and innovation. Banks will see how consumers respond. At the end of the day, consumers are going to drive the credit card product."

CNN "American Morning" | Feb 19
Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "Interest rates will be a little bit higher across the board, it'll be harder for people to get cards, limits will be lower, and, beyond that, card companies are looking at annual fees, a reduction in promotional rates, maybe a reduction in rewards programs."

CNN Money | Feb 3
Proposal to Limit Large Banks 
ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says, "Within the industry one of the issues is they're trying to understand what the definition of proprietary trading will be. It's pretty clear that legislation in the United States won't have a hard and fast definition. What they're more likely to do, and what the House bill has already done, is say to the regulators 'This is an issue. You need to look at it. You need to address it and you have the tools, if you think it's risky, to address it.'"

Nationally Syndicated "America's Morning News" | Jan 26
Anti-Bank Rhetoric (appearance at 10m 20s)
ABA COO Diane Casey-Landry says, "One of the big things that this administration can do is distinguish between Wall Street and the investment banks and the commercial banks and the Main Street banks. Community banks were not part of this and the Wall Street bonuses are certainly not something you see on Main Street, ever."

CNBC "Closing Bell" | Jan 21
Too-big-to-fail 
ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says, "We represent banks of all sizes, and community banks are very concerned that the language in Washington is very negative about banks -- that banks are risky, that banks cost the taxpayer. For example, I don't think a lot of the public understands that in every program involving banks the government is making a profit."

C-SPAN | Jan 19
Economic Forecast 
Stuart Hoffman, ABA Economic Advisory Committee chairman and chief economist, PNC Financial Services, Inc., Pittsburgh says, "The recession technically ended last year. However, the normal rapid economic rebound seen in the first year or so following past deep recessions will not occur...I would call it a 'half-speed' economic recovery."

CNBC "Squawk on the Street" | Jan 8

Small Business Lending 
ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says, "The demand for credit is down. Now, there are things on margin that can be done to increase the availability of credit. The bankers are looking at second look programs so they can get beyond the routine, normal way you extend credit and say, 'Is there something special we can do to help this small business?'"

PBS "Nightly Business Report" | Jan 5

Treasury's TARP Investments (appearance at 8m 20s)
James Chessen, ABA chief economist says, "There are certainly risks of investments for the Treasury, but the profits that Treasury is expecting on the banking portion of TARP far outweighs any of the losses that they anticipate."

ABC "World News" | Jan 4

Credit Cards 

Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "There's still a lot of competition, there's still a lot of solicitations in the mail and customers can vote with their feet and move to a competitor."

NPR "Marketplace" | Dec 22

Lending Challenges for Community Bankers 

ABA COO Diane Casey-Landry says, "When [regulators] go into a smaller institution, they have the opportunity to go through literally every single loan. And then when you begin criticizing the loans, and you're looking at every one, it can have a ripple effect throughout the institution."

NPR "Marketplace" | Dec 8

Small Business Lending (appearance at 5m 03s)

Bob Seiwert, SVP and senior director for ABA's Center for Commercial Lending & Business Banking says, "When you have a recessionary economy, businesses are not expanding. They're not opening new locations. So when your business line is trending down, you don't need additional funds."

Northwest Ag Information Network "Washington Ag Today" | Nov 30

Agriculture

Keith Leggett, ABA VP and senior economist says, "If you look at the last two recessions, what you found is that the Fed did not start did not start to raise interest rates until almost a year and a half after the unemployment rate peaked...Overall that means borrowing costs for farmers are going to remain favorable."

PBS "Frontline" | Nov 24

Credit Cards

(Part Four: Consumers Pay the Price 27m30s)

Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "Congress understood when they adopted the rule that credit cards would be more difficult to get, limits would be lower and interest rates would be higher for everyone. But they made the decision that that result was an acceptable consequence, an acceptable trade-off, for the sake of the consumers."

CNN | Nov 19

Credit Cards

Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "There are other ways to address [credit card agreements] rather than having to create an expensive big bureaucracy."

CNBC "Street Signs" | Nov 16

Ally Bank
ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says, "Our regulators have learned [from the crisis in the 1980s] that if you have an institution that is troubled and if they are trying to grow their way out by paying very high rates, that often is a prescription for a bigger problem."

ABC World News | Nov 10

Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says in this tough economy, many people can't pay their bills "so losses are up and those losses, in part, are paid for by other borrowers in the form of higher interest rates."

CNBC | Oct 27

Resolution Authority
ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says, "We need to see the exact language but generally we think Congress is moving very much in the right direction." 

FOX Business | Oct 26

Protests at ABA Annual Convention
ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says, "These bankers come from all over the country. Probably the median number of employees for these banks is around 50. These are small businesses. Nobody around here made any toxic subprime loans or took big bonuses. They're just trying to serve their communities." 

National Public Radio | Oct 14

ATM Skimming
ABA spokeswoman Margot Mohsberg Johnson says, "If you see a machine that looks like there has been something attached to it, you should be suspicious and you should tell your bank, or simply use a different machine." 

NPR "Marketplace" | Oct 9

Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "Consumers are in control. If they don't like the new interest rate, they can keep the old one, pay off the balance over time and find another issuer." 

NPR "Diane Rehm Show" | Oct 8

Overdraft Fees
ABA COO Diane Casey-Landry says, "Our surveys and the Federal Reserve and the FDIC have shown that almost 82 percent of people did not have an overdraft last year and that the vast majority were very happy when their bank, in fact, covered it." 

PBS "Nightly Business Report" | Sept 29

FDIC
James Chessen, ABA chief economist says the FDIC's proposal is "going to have less impact on the banks and less impact on their communities." 

FOX Business "Closing Bell"  | Sept 29

FDIC
James Chessen, ABA chief economist says, "It is a lot of cash out for the industry but it's certainly better than the alternative which was to take a large chunk of money out of income and out of capital from the industry right away. This plan allows the banks to pay for those costs and expense that over the next three years." 

CBS Evening News  | Sept 23

Overdraft Fees
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "It is really up to the customer to know what their balance is and how much they have to spend." 

NPR "Marketplace"  | Sept 23

Regulatory Reform
ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says, "You will lose the debates you now have among regulators, which are valuable. It's great to have one regulator if that regulator is right, but it's terrible if it's wrong." 

NPR "All Things Considered"  |  Sept 15

Regulatory Reform
ABA COO Diane Casey-Landry says, "We have 8,200 banks in this country, 96 percent of which are well capitalized. The reality is you don't regulate and set new regulations and an entire government bureaucracy because of several institutions that have failed." 

NPR "Marketplace"  |  Sept 1

Bank Marketing
ABA spokeswoman Carol Kaplan says, "A small bank has more at stake in the small market and more likely to know what might go over well in their community." 

FOX Business  |  Aug 27

FDIC and Private Equity Firms
ABA President and CEO Ed Yingling says, "It does cost the FDIC fund when you have failures and every penny in the FDIC fund is paid for by banks. I think [community banks] are happy, if it's done the right way, to have that extra capital come in and buy troubled banks. They want it to be done fairly they should have an equal footing in terms of these acquisitions." 

CNBC "Power Lunch"  |  Aug 26

FDIC and Private Equity Firms
Wayne Abernathy, ABA EVP of financial institutions policy and regulatory affairs says, "I think it's a good idea to make sure that the people who are investing in banks are committed to the banking industry, that they're committed to their investment."

PBS "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer"  |  Aug 20

Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "The predominant effect of this new law is that consumers will no longer be surprised by an interest rate increase. For the most part, they will receive a 45-day advanced notice and, more importantly, the option to pay off the existing balance over time at the original rate."

NPR "All Things Considered"  |  Aug 20

Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "When Congress made these decisions, it understood it would be harder for people and for small businesses to get credit cards and that limits would be lower and that credit card interest rates, in general, would go up across the board. But they made the decision that this was an acceptable compromise for the consumer protection."

NBC News  |  Aug 18

Identity Theft
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "Bottom line, as a general matter, whether it's a credit card or a debit card, consumers are not liable for unauthorized transactions -- including transactions that are the result of hacking."

NBC Nightly News  |  Aug 16

Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "Everybody presents a higher risk than what they did a year ago. Each individual card company is going to look at thier own portfolio, thier own customers."

FOX Business  |  July 26

Bank Lending
James Chessen, ABA chief economist says, "There's a lot of availability for loans. That's what banks are in business to do and everyday they're looking for good loans."

Bloomberg Television  |  July 26

FDIC and Private Equity Firms
Mark Tenhundfeld, ABA SVP office of regulatory policy says, "It's important that private equity have a high hurdle to clear and that anybody who comes in and buys stock of a bank be serious and responsible and be there in good times and bad."

NBC Nightly News  |  July 21

Credit Cards
Nessa Feddis, ABA VP and Senior Counsel for regulatory compliance says, "Credit card companies are losing money because people are losing jobs. And the first bill they stop paying is their credit card."