Highlights of the 2010 Annual Washington Visit
May 5-6 wThe Liaison on Capitol Hill

 
NYBA Chairman Mark J. Czarnecki, President of M & T Bank, welcomed dozens of bankers to the Nation’s Capitol.

NYBA Vice Chairman, John R. Buran, President & CEO of Flushing Financial, introduced U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer.

NYBA President & CEO Mike Smith and ABA President & CEO Ed Yingling, briefed bankers on the financial regulatory reform bill under consideration in the Senate.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer said that he was at peace with his work on the financial regulatory reform bill because the bill represents strong reform and is forward-thinking. Senator Schumer also lauded NYBA and NYBDC for its work on small business lending.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Kevin M. Warsh discussed the growing concerns about the condition of the global financial system if the problems in Greece did not get resolved.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens) said that certain members of the delegation have been very actively defending the financial services industry because if its importance to New York ’s tax base.

A delegation of bankers from Long Island visited U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Nassau),where he discussed developments in the case of the attempted Times Square bombing.

NYBA PAC Chairman John W. Alexander, Chairman & CEO of Northfield Bank, Kenneth J. Doherty, EVP of Northfield, U.S. Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island), and Anthony P. Costa, Chairman & Co-CEO, Empire State Bank, on a “Hill Visit.”

Julie L. Williams, First Senior Deputy Comptroller & Chief Counsel at the OCC, discussed the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other provisions of the financial regulatory reform bill.

Arthur J. Murton, Director of the Division of Insurance and Research at the FDIC, reviewed the status of the Deposit Insurance Fund and reported on the number of bank failures that have taken place in 2010.

John Heilemann, co-author of the best seller “Game Change” discussed various factors in the political scene and the electorate that contributed to the current atmosphere in Washington .