Tim Pawlenty, CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) and former governor of Minnesota, began his keynote address at the 2017 IPASummit by taking the audience back to November 8, 2016.
“Very few people, myself included, thought that Donald Trump would be currently sitting in the Oval Office,” said Pawlenty. As a result, the Trump administration has struggled in hiring, and gaining approval, of key staffing positions throughout agencies and offices in Washington. As the 100-day mark has come and gone, the U.S. Senate had confirmed only 26 of Trump’s executive branch appointments.
According to Pawlenty, this is the reason that things have been moving so slowly in Washington, DC – specifically within the Department of Labor. There are simply not enough staffers to complete the large economic review of the Fiduciary Rule required by Trump’s presidential memorandum issued on February 3, 2017, which is necessary to determine next steps for the rule.
The executive branch appointment process will inevitably come to end, and when it does, the pace of regulation will begin to pick up again. Pawlenty noted that it is possible that major changes to the regulatory environment might not happen until 2018.
Pawlenty’s remarks went on to focus on major regulatory change that can be expected in Washington, including:
- S. Federal Reserve: Chair Janet Yellen will finish her tenure at the Fed next year. Additionally, three Fed Governor positions will be open.
- CFPB: Director Richard Cordray will likely be replaced within the near future, which will spur change within the agency.
- FSOC: The agency, led by the Treasury Department, will likely undergo internal reform – in addition to SIFI’s designation being revisited.
The CEO of FSR concluded his keynote presentation by touching on cybersecurity, noting that the financial services industry needs to have standardized regulation. Coining the term cyber-harmonization, Pawlenty highlighted how FSR is continuing to explore partnerships with the Government to protect consumer information – and urged all attendees to do the same.
IPASummit 2017 Recap
