Social Media Roundup: How to Win Over a Regulator
An American Bankers Association exec shares the association's strategy in fighting for changes to the Volcker Rule. Also: What would a world without net neutrality mean for associations?
A new regulation passes, and it has a dire effect on your member companies. What to do?
Sometimes it comes down to picking up the phone and pulling out the shoe-leather tactics. More details in today's Social Media Roundup:
Concerns, Well Voiced
What the #VolckerRule tussle says about talking with regulators–effectively. Wayne Abernathy weighs in http://t.co/zOalwser9T
— American Banker (@AmerBanker) February 13, 2014
The recent tussle over the Volcker Rule, still something of a political hot potato in the financial sector, has been interesting to watch from the sidelines, especially after one group, the American Bankers Association (ABA), successfully made its case to roll back a controversial portion of the rule. And this week, ABA dropped a lawsuit after its members' concerns were addressed. How'd they do it? According to Wayne A. Abernathy, the association's executive vice president for financial institutions policy and regulatory affairs, a lot of it came down to finding the right tone with regulators—offering them good feedback, keeping lines of communication open, and giving them just the right research to make their decision. "It is important to engage regulators with facts and information. They may be interested in how we feel about something or what our opinions are, but hard data can really catch their notice," he writes in American Banker. "Fortunately, no one knows more about banks and bank customers than bankers do. Bankers' most effective arguments draw heavily upon that information, organized and presented in compelling ways." Sound like your approach to handling regulatory agencies? (ht @AmerBanker)
Pondering Net Neutrality
If Net Neutrality is dead, what does it mean for associations? by @rvanhilst via @socialfish http://t.co/dp80A0pPUh #assnchat
— Vanguard Technology (@vanguardtech) February 13, 2014
A net-neutrality what-if: Despite a recent court ruling, it's not clear that net neutrality is going the way of the dodo just yet (the FCC is reportedly talking about a new proposal), but what happens if it does? Most news stories of late have focused on companies like Netflix, which use a ton of bandwidth online. But Vanguard Technology's Ray Van Hilst says that there's more at stake than a few movies. In his latest piece for SocialFish, he offers up a few concerns that may arise if large tech companies throttle access to certain sites—such as damage to teleworking efforts as well as the possibility that video-based distance learning could take a hit. "OK. I'll admit this is a 'sky is falling' scenario," he writes. "But if we are going to centralize the backbone of the internet in the hands of a few mega-companies, these aren't that far-fetched ideas (heck, 10+ years ago most of what the NSA has been doing was only the stuff of movies)." (ht @vanguardtech)
What's on your mind today? Tell us all about it in the comments.
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