Edward Yingling

Edward Yingling is President and CEO of the American Bankers Association (ABA). Yingling became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on May 1, 2005, but had been the ABA's top lobbyist since 1985, responsible for the legislative, legal, regulatory, tax and policy development activities of the association. He was recently named "the 24th most powerful person in DC" by GQ magazine.

According to their website, ABA was cited as one of the "Power 25" in Fortune magazine's annual poll of the most powerful lobbying groups. ABA was one of only three trade associations to be in the "Power 25" every time the list was published.

Biography

Edward Yingling worked as a private-practice, Washington, D.C. attorney from 1973 to 1985. He worked for the law firm Barnett, Yingling and Shay best known for its long-term relationship representing Citicorp (now CitiGroup, Inc. or Citi). Founders of the firm include Jack Yingling (Edward Yingling's father), former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Robert Barnett, and Jerry Shay -- a long term General Counsel to the Federal Reserve Board. Edward Yingling served as a legislative aid to U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright in 1973-1974.

Yingling graduated from Princeton University in 1970 with a degree in politics and earned his law degree in 1973 from the Stanford University Law School. He is married to Dana Gordon, and they have one daughter.

Yingling is paid a $2.1 million per year.

Record and Controversy

Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA)

Yingling on the CFPA proposed by President Barack Obama: "There is no shortage of laws designed to  protect consumers."



Yingling on the CFPA provision that would require all banks communications with their consumers be "reasonable": "This term is so vague, no banker would know what to do with it."



Mortgage and Foreclosure

Yingling on a bill to allow judges to modify mortgages during a bankruptcy to help keep people in their homes: "The cram down provision if it became law would raise the cost of all mortgages for everyone."


Credit Cards

Yingling on the Credit Card Holder Bill of Rights which would end some of the tricks and traps associated with credit cards: "Those that manage their credit well will in some degree subsidize those that have credit problems."



Yingling on the Federal Reserves efforts to increase transparency in credit card fees and interest rates -- “The Federal Reserve’s proposal is an unprecedented regulatory intrusion into marketplace pricing and product offerings."



Yingling on traditional caps on interest rates which were America's primary financial regulation since colonial times: "[I]n this country, we have a strong bias against controls on prices. We don't have the government set prices. And we do that for a very good reason, because it tends to mess up the economy. That's the kind of thing they do in command and control economies, and it didn't work very well in East Germany and the Soviet Union to have price controls."

Tightening of Bankruptcy Law

Yingling on the 2005 bankruptcy bill which made it much harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protections from credit card, medical and other debt: "The bankruptcy reform bill passed today will protect and improve our nation's financial safety net. It will ensure that bankruptcy protection is fully available for the neediest Americans, while reining in some filers who wrongly use the system as a financial planning tool." 


Glass-Steagall Repeal

Yingling on Glass-Steagall repeal in 1999 (the depression-era law which separated investment banks from commercial banks from insurance firms to protect consumers): "This is the most important piece of financial services legislation in over 60 years. And basically, it's designed to update the laws ... The Treasury has estimated that this can save consumers $15 billion a year, and actually in a letter today the secretary said under some circumstances it could be as high as $18 billion a year.

Yingling on Glass-Steagall industry campaign: "We have been lobbying jointly with the insurance industry and the securities industry, often holding joint strategy sessions. That is really amazing, considering where we were a few years ago."

Mark-to-Market Accounting

The American Bankers Association (ABA) has urged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to raise accounting issues at the upcoming G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh in order to curb efforts by standard-setters to expand mark-to-market accounting to loans and debt instruments. Mark-to-market or "fair value" accounting refers to the accounting standards of assigning a value to a position held in a financial instrument based on the current fair market price for the instrument or similar instruments. The use of fair value measurements has increased steadily over the past decade, primarily in response to investor demand for relevant and timely financial statements that will aid in making better informed decisions. Now that banks are obliged to use mark-to-market to write down assets, many banks have been for suspending these rules which would allow them to bolster their income statement by not recognizing the loss on the current market value of their assets. Edward Yingling has advocated suspending mark-to-market rules and his position is that the mark-to-market accounting changes proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board would lead to reduced lending, changes in the product types available to customers, an increased cost of capital to the banking system, and higher cost of credit to borrowers.

Members

According to their Web page, ABA "brings together banks of all sizes and charters into one association. 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 $13.3 trillion in assets and employ over 2 million men and women."

While the ABA likes to tout the small banks it represents, Frontline cites some of the biggest banks as members including CitiGroup, J. P. Morgan Chase, and MBNA.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics: "The American Bankers Association represents banks of all types and sizes, including regional banks, holding companies and savings associations. One of the most powerful lobbying groups on Capitol Hill, the association regularly presses Congress for regulatory relief and industry tax breaks. But its main interest lately has been bankruptcy legislation The association is part of a special coalition of credit card companies, banks and credit unions pushing for a bankruptcy bill that would force consumers to repay at least some of their debts."

Campaign Contributions

Edward Yingling’s 2008 campaign contributions include:

• $1,000 09/08/2008 Friends of Chris Dodd - Democrat
• $1,000 05/21/2008 Tim Johnson for South Dakota, Inc. - Democrat
• $1,000 02/07/2008 Larocco for Senate - Democrat
• $1,000 06/21/2007 Chris Dodd for President Inc - Democrat
• $1,000 03/13/2007 Tim Johnson for south Dakota Inc - Democrat
• $2,300 02/23/2007 Chris Dodd for President Inc - Democrat

Top 10 Recipients from the ABA (2008) cycle:

• Senate: Chris Dodd, $20,250
• House: Robert E. Latta, $16,000
• Senate: Roger Wicker, $15,500
• House: Steve Israel, $15,350
• House: Andre Carson, $15,000
• House: Bill Foster, $15,000
• House: Jay Love, $15,000
• House: Rob Wittman, $15,000
• Senate: Saxby Chambliss, $14,000
• House: Charlie Wilson, $14,000

Lobbying

In addition to their own formidable lobbying force, the ABA works in conjunction with lobbying firms including Ernst & Young, the Glover Park Group, Clark and Associates, Butera and Andrews, Tassey and Associates and more.

According to Center for Responsive Politics, Edward Yingling and the ABA have already spent $4.4 million in 2009 on federal lobbying efforts. They have lobbied on the following bills in the 111th Congress:

• S.414 111 Congress Credit CARD Act of 2009
• H.R.1106 111 Congress Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009
• S.651 111 Congress Compensation Fairness Act of 2009
• H.R.627 111 Congress Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009
• H.R.1664 111 Congress To amend the executive compensation provisions of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards.
• H.R.1575 111 Congress End Government Reimbursement of Excessive Executive Disbursements (End GREED) Act
• H.R.1586 111 Congress To impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain TARP recipients
• H.R.200 111 Congress Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009
• H.R.1349 111 Congress Federal Accounting Oversight Board Act of 2009
• H.R.384 111 Congress TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009
• S.360 111 Congress Cap Executive Officer Pay Act of 2009
• S.61 111 Congress Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009
• H.R.977 111 Congress Derivatives Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2009
• H.R.5546 110 Congress Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008
• H.R.1880 111 Congress National Insurance Consumer Protection Act
• H.R.1728 111 Congress Expand and Preserve Home Ownership Through Counseling Act
• H.R.1748 111 Congress Fight Fraud Act of 2009
• H.R.1456 111 Congress Consumer Overdraft Protection Fair Practices Act
• H.R.1479 111 Congress Insurance Disclosure Act
• H.R.225 111 Congress Emergency Homeownership and Equity Protection Act
• H.R.1214 111 Congress Payday Loan Reform Act of 2009
• S.1 111 Congress American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
• S.257 111 Congress Consumer Credit Fairness Act
• S.506 111 Congress Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act
• S.896 111 Congress Nationwide Mortgage Fraud Task Force Act of 2009
• S.500 111 Congress Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2009
• S.566 111 Congress Financial Product Safety Commission Act of 2009
• S.605 111 Congress A bill to require the Securities and Exchange Commission to reinstate the uptick rule and effectively regulate abusive short selling activities.
• S.392 111 Congress Credit Card Reform Act of 2009
• S.4 111 Congress Comprehensive Health Reform Act of 2009
• S.401 111 Congress Defined Contribution Fee Disclosure Act of 2009
• S.413 111 Congress Graduate for a Better Future Act
• S.272 111 Congress Derivatives Trading Integrity Act of 2009
• 344 111 Congress Hedge Fund Transparency Act
• S.1074 111 Congress Shareholder Bill of Rights Act of 2009
• H.R.711 111 Congress Hedge Fund Adviser Registration Act of 2009
• H.R.7327 110 Congress Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008
• H.R.2861 111 Congress Shareholder Empowerment Act of 2009
• R.2695 111 Congress Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009
• H.R.1608 111 Congress Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2009
• H.R.1629 111 Congress Helping Americans Keep Their Homes Act of 2009
• H.R.1637 111 Congress Universal Default Prohibition Act of 2009
• H.R.1645 111 Congress Financial and Economic Literacy Improvement Act of 2009
• H.R.1652 111 Congress To require institutions receiving certain assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program or the Federal Reserve to have employee bonus payment plans approved in advance of the payments being made.
• H.R.1656 111 Congress Assisted Institution Bonus Repayment Act of 2009
• H.R.2221 111 Congress Data Accountability and Trust Act
• H.R.2382 111 Congress Credit Card Interchange Fees Act of 2009
• H.R.2452 111 Congress Net Operating Loss (NOL) Carryback Act
• R.2267 111 Congress Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act 1
• H.R.2268 111 Congress Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2009 1
• H.R.2309 111 Congress Consumer Credit and Debt Protection Act
• H.R.1708 111 Congress Ending the Medicare Disability Waiting Period Act of 2009
• H.R.1984 111 Congress 401(k) Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act of 2009
• H.R.1988 111 Congress Conflicted Investment Advice Prohibition Act of 2009
• R.1020 111 Congress Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009
• H.R.3221 111 Congress Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009
• H.R.2779 111 Congress Defined Contribution Plan Fee Transparency Act of 2009
• H.R.2893 111 Congress Money Service Business Act of 2009
• H.R.2897 111 Congress Bank Accountability and Risk Assessment Act of 2009
• H.R.2989 111 Congress 401(k) Fair Disclosure and Pension Security Act of 2009
• S.1212 111 Congress Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009
• S.1341 111 Congress Close the SILO/LILO Loophole Act of 2009
• 386 111 Congress Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009
• S.823 111 Congress Net Operating Loss (NOL) Carryback Act
• 895 111 Congress Nationwide Mortgage Fraud Task Force Act of 2009

Contact Details

American Bankers Association
1120 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
1-800-BANKERS
http://www.aba.com/

Articles and resources

External articles

• Mary Bottari, CMD's first 'Golden Throne' Award presented to Edward Yingling, Bank lobbyist Extraordinaire", PR Watch, September 17, 2009.

• Shahien Nasiripour, Ed Yingling: Banking Industry's Top Defender Got It Wrong Over and Over Again, Huffington Post, October 26, 2009.

• Dan Geldon, Why Is Anyone Still Listening To American Bankers Association President Ed Yingling?, Business Insider, November 1, 2009.