Exclusive: New bank advocacy group to go on offense
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Amanda Eversole, CEO of the Financial Services Forum. Photo courtesy of the Forum. Photo: Ronald Flores, RFDC
The Financial Services Forum (FSF), a trade association of the country's largest eight banks, is creating a new nonprofit to spend "tens of millions" of dollars to help inform voters and tell the banking industry's story on its terms, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Chastened by the 2008 financial crisis, America's biggest banks have mostly avoided the limelight in Washington and have tried to work behind the scenes.
But the forum, under new leadership, wants to re-engage with the public on the role banks play in driving economic growth — and it doesn't plan to be shy about it.
- "We're loud and proud of who we are and what we stand for," Amanda Eversole, the president and CEO of the forum, told Axios.
- "We're going to be much more affirmative in saying, 'We have a lot of positive benefits to the economy,'" she said. "We want to make sure that champions in both parties, Republicans and Democrats, understand that."
Driving the news: Today the trade association — which includes the eight largest U.S. banks — is launching the American Growth Alliance (AGA), which will be organized as a 501(c)(4) group.
Between the lines: Eversole, a veteran of the American Petroleum Institute, is three months into her new role leading the forum and is charting a more aggressive strategy.
The intrigue: The crypto industry has been spending lavishly to help elect candidates that reflect its priorities and will champion its agenda.
- Bank lobbying groups haven't been nearly as aggressive. The two groups — traditional banks and some crypto firms — have had a few skirmishes this year, from stablecoin deposits to crypto-focused banks.
- Both industries are bracing for more in the future.
Zoom in: The forum spent roughly $28 million in 2024. The AGA will be seeded with "tens of millions of dollars" to raise awareness on key issues, Eversole said.
- As a 501(c)(4), known as a "social-welfare" organization, the AGA must spend more than half of its budget on public education efforts. That can include general issue ads that stop short of direct political advocacy, but must stop short of directly backing a political candidate.
- It's also permitted to steer a smaller share of its funds to independent-expenditure groups, which are permitted to engage more directly in political campaigns and support specific candidates.
The bottom line: Eversole has the resources — and the ambition — to find new ways to influence policy debates about banking both inside and outside Washington.
- And she's making clear that the group plans to spend big — and on allies in both parties.
