In her year-in-review speech at the ABA Annual Convention today, outgoing American Bankers Association Chairman Dorothy Savarese highlighted the association’s year of advocating in the nation’s capital and empowering bankers to succeed.
“During my year as chairman, with fellow bankers, I had the privilege of representing you all in a number of settings, advocating for common-sense changes to regulation and legislation at the White House, at the Treasury Department and testifying at the first hearing on regulatory reform in the Senate,” she said. “I saw from these opportunities that it makes a difference when ‘real live bankers’ tell it like it is.”
Savarese highlighted results the industry is already beginning to see. “After our meeting with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and his team at Treasury on regulatory reform for community banks last spring, ABA staff submitted ten different white papers to the Treasury Department offering detailed suggestions for improving the policy environment so that banks can better serve their customers,” she said. “It has been gratifying to see that some of these suggestions have already been turned into regulatory proposals.”
In her final remarks as ABA chairman, Savarese — who is chairman, president and CEO of Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, Orleans, Mass. — thanked her peers for their contributions to their hometowns and to the country. “I have witnessed myself the pure air your commitment and dedication breathe into the health of your communities, the financial lives of your customers, and the resilience of this industry,” she said.