Eric Hovde talks banking & politics

Banking leader Eric Hovde shares Senate race insights with FOTB leaders

Former US Senate candidate Eric Hovde, an FOTB-endorsed candidate who narrowly lost his race to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) last fall, met with FOTB leadership this week to share insights on banking and politics. Hovde, CEO of Sunwest Bank and past board member of over a dozen banking companies, has turned around numerous troubled banks throughout the United States.

He observed that the current administration and Congress will be looking at several initiatives that are good for banking. One, there will be a big push for deregulation. Two, there may be an effort to raise the heightened regulatory scrutiny level from banks at the $10 billion size to $20 or possibly $30 billion. Three, there will be efforts to put the Fed in check and reduce the reach of the Federal Reserve. And four, there will be efforts to kill the CFPB. Hovde noted that now is the best time since Ronald Reagan for bankers to engage with Congress and advocate for our issues.

He also noted that as the Republicans in DC look to make tax cuts revenue neutral, taxing credit unions could be an easy pick up. The playing field needs to be leveled and avoiding taxes has been a big economic boondoggle for credit unions. Hovde thanked Friends of Traditional Banking for stepping up to help with his close race and encouraged us to find candidates who understand banking and support those who are aligned with our interests.

Locality Bank's Jorge to Rep Florida on FOTB Banker Board

Javier Jorge has been selected to FOTB's Nationwide Banker Board, representing Florida and replacing Rita Lowman, who has been promoted to the organization's Executive Committee. Jorge is a seasoned banking executive with over two decades of experience in SBA lending, fintech innovation, and small

business advocacy.

He is currently serving as EVP and Director of Government Guaranteed Lending at Locality

Bank in Ft. Lauderdale, leading SBA 7(a) and 504 loan programs. He was re-elected as a Board Member of the National Association of

Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL), where he actively shapes SBA policy. A co-founder of fintech platforms FlashSpread and ChatBiz, he's been an innovater in enhancing financial access for small businesses.

Javier holds a BA in Finance and an MBA from the University of South Florida, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Banking Leadership from the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Community Banking from the Florida School of Banking.

Coastal Bank CEO Eric Sprink Joins Banker Board

Eric Sprink, president and CEO of Coastal Bank and Coastal Financial Corporation, has accepted an appointment to represent Washington State on FOTB's Nationwide Banker Board.

His banking career began when working for Security Pacific Bank while enrolled at Arizona State University. He assumed increasing levels of responsibility in the areas of retail operations, consumer and commercial lending and wealth management with Security Pacific Bank and its successor, Bank of America. He then moved to Centura Bank, where he held management positions in retail operations and corporate finance. After Centura Bank was acquired, he held senior management positions at Washington Trust Bank and Global Credit Union.

Eric is active in industry trade groups and is a director and past chairman of the Community Bankers of Washington. He received a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina.

Is YOUR state represented on Friends of Traditional Banking's leadership team? Check out the group HERE and let us know if you'd like to get more involved!

BANKER NEWS BITS:

Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 217-211 to pass the Congressional Review Act Resolution overturning the CFPB’s eleventh-hour overdraft rule that capped overdraft fees at $5. PYMNTS shared the reactions from both sides of the aisle as this now advances to President Trump's desk.

A new national survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Bankers Association shows that consumers value and understand existing overdraft services offered by financial institutions. 70% find their bank’s overdraft protection valuable.

BankingDive reports that US Senate Banking Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, is projecting early May for a full Senate vote on Jonathan McKernan’s nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Sen. Scott also declared, “Everything we can do to shrink the size of the CFPB, the better off the average consumer is.”

Banks don't pay tariffs, but tariffs could still cost them. "Bankers don’t import or export sneakers or cars. But that doesn’t mean they are immune to tariffs," reported the Wall Street Journal this month. "Declining consumer and business activity could be made worse if banks have trouble squeezing profit out of the loans they do make."

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Friends of Traditional Banking is a non-partisan grassroots effort organized by bankers in 2012 to improve the political and regulatory environment for the traditional banking industry in the U.S. FOTB is the inverse of a PAC--instead of spreading a little bit of money to a lot of campaigns, they focus a lot of money on a couple of key campaigns.