Tuesday Topic: What to Expect from Washington

As a community banker, I am concerned about our future. Our tax rates will increase for sure. Postal banking is a very real possibility, which I think could be very troublesome since they know nothing about banking/ financial services. As for other policy changes, we will have to wait and see but I am not optimistic. A divided government COULD lead to gradual policy shifts or more gridlock...wait and see

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William Walker
Chairman & President
Traders & Farmers Bank
Haleyville AL
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-09-2020 16:22
From: Barb Rehm
Subject: Tuesday Topic: What to Expect from Washington

The election is over (mostly) and Joe Biden was declared the winner. House Democrats lost some ground and Senate Republicans (likely) held on to a slim majority. What will that mean for financial services? No one can know for sure, but I liked Jerry Seib's Wall Street Journal column that argues moderates from both political parties will be empowered. Divided government is popular because it means both parties need the other to get anything done and that typically translates into more gradual policy shifts. Politico reports "bankers…are looking forward to a divided federal government." And American Banker took a nice, detailed look at how a Biden administration may affect everything from the CFPB to postal banking to Covid. How are you feeling about the election results? What worries you most about banking's policy future?

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Barb Rehm
Senior Managing Director
Promontory Interfinancial Network, LLC
Arlington VA
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