Decision 2016 | The SourceMedia Business Issues Scorecard

An index of SourceMedia's comprehensive election analysis for professionals in financial services, healthcare and technology. With coverage of more than 50 contests and ballot initiatives

Financial Services | Housing | Technology | Wealth Management | Taxation | Infrastructure | Healthcare

---

Financial Services
Key issues: Reg Relief, Too Big to Fail, Regulatory Agency Appointments. With coverage from American Banker and Credit Union Journal.

• Wall Street Critics in Disarray After Trump Victory
  After anticipating four years of coordination with the White House, stunned Wall Street critics are reorganizing their priorities and vowing to oppose any attempts by the new Republican government to roll back post-crisis reforms.
• Treasury Pick Mnuchin Drew Praise, Scorn After IndyMac Deal
  The Trump transition team is said to have recommended that Steven Mnuchin be nominated Treasury secretary. A Goldman Sachs alum, he is known as a successful change agent for his roles in the transformation of the failed IndyMac into OneWest and the revamping of CIT, but some community reinvestment advocates remain critical of him.
• Trump Is Unlikely to Bring Back Glass-Steagall
  Donald Trump's campaign strongly endorsed the idea of restoring the Depression-era separation of banking and commerce, but since Trump's victory, the idea has all but vanished.
• Will Trump Force Fed's Hand on Exec Comp, Capital Rules?
  President-elect Donald Trump's victory poses a unique quandary for the Federal Reserve both before and after he is sworn in — whether the central bank should attempt to finish the many rules still in process or keep its head down to avoid provoking a hostile Congress.
• Open Letter to Trump: Weigh the Costs of Regulation
  Regulatory costs may be warranted, but neither Congress nor the executive branch assessed the cost of the Dodd-Frank Act before its enactment.
• Trump Gives Banks Their Best Shot at Rolling Back Dodd-Frank
  GOP control of the legislative and executive branches, combined with a 2018 election map that threatens vulnerable Democrats, gives the industry its best chance in six years to change the financial reform law.
• Hope for Reg Relief, Fear of Trumponomics Among Small Banks
  Many community bankers are hopeful that the pro-business Republican will reduce regulatory costs for them and their customers, but others remain concerned about Trump's lack of specifics on job creation.
• CFPB's Precarious Future Under Trump
  President-elect Donald Trump might attempt to remove Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray from his post and boost legislative efforts to weaken its powers.
• CU Advocates: Dodd-Frank, CFPB Are in the Crosshairs Now
  With Republicans holding control of Congress and the White House, credit union advocates expect a focus on reg relief, including changes to Dodd-Frank, the CFPB, the NCUA and more.
• Will Trump Really Hold Remittances Ransom?
  To jawbone Mexico into paying for the wall, President-elect Trump has threatened to suspend remittances. Such a move would disrupt one of the busiest corridors of money in the world.
• FSOC on Chopping Block After Republican Victories
  While Washington scrambles to make sense of President-Elect Donald Trump's victory and Republicans' control of both chambers of Congress, the implications of the 2016 election on the Financial Stability Oversight Council will be swift and severe, analysts say.
• Trump's Surprise Victory Changes the Game for Financial Services
  Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's shocking victory late Tuesday left world markets rattled, and financial services companies facing an uncertain future. But once they adjust, financial institutions are likely to embrace Trump's deregulatory agenda.
• Cheat Sheet: A Guide to President-Elect Trump's Views on Key Issues
  The New York real estate mogul Donald Trump defied all conventional wisdom by winning the presidency, a huge upset that is sending shock waves through the political and policy establishment. During the campaign, Trump eschewed providing details on many issues, instead just providing a broad outline of his policy positions. Following is a guide to what Trump has said.
• What a Trump Victory Means for Bankers
  Despite more than a year of campaigning and discussing various issues, Donald Trump remains a huge question mark when it comes to banking policies — making it unclear exactly what his priorities would be as president.
• How Crapo Would Lead Banking Panel After GOP Senate Victory
  There was another surprise Tuesday as Republicans managed to keep a Senate majority following the elections, likely giving the gavel of the Banking Committee to Sen. Mike Crapo, a right-of-center Idaho lawmaker who has proven willing to reach across the political aisle in the past.

Housing
Key issues: Housing Finance Reform, Affordable Housing, FHA. With coverage from National Mortgage News

• What Election Results Mean for 2017 Mortgage Volume
  Industry forecasts for 2017 mortgage volume assumed a continuation of current housing and economic policies under a Hillary Clinton administration. But with Donald Trump's win, analysts are sorting out what, if any, adjustments are needed to those projections.
• Trump must focus on housing reform, starting with FHA
  The historic election has presented an opportunity for a comprehensive overhaul of the housing finance system after eight years of gridlock.
• Lenders see influence expand as favored candidates win key races
  The overwhelming majority of candidates supported by the mortgage industry by and large performed well on Election Day, with one notable exception.
• Will Trump Tackle Housing Finance Reform?
  Housing was the talk of the campaign two presidential elections ago, but it stayed under the radar in the 2016 race, leaving plenty of room to speculate about President-elect Donald Trump's likely mortgage policy for the next four years.
• 5 Mortgage Questions Facing President Trump and the New Congress
  Many issues facing President-elect Trump and the 115th Congress will have far-reaching implications for the mortgage industry. Here's a look at five of those most pressing questions awaiting elected officials when they take office in January.

Technology
Key issues: Fintech, Security, Privacy. With coverage from PaymentsSource, Health Data Management, Insurance Networking News and Information Management

• Would Trump policies help or hurt financial tech? Yes.
  The president-elect's policies on taxes, offshoring, surveillance and other issues will affect bank technology officers and their vendors in a variety of ways. The positives may slightly outweigh the negatives.
• Polling failures don't mean Big Data is bunk
  For all the talk about this year's election being about big data and analytics, the underlying tactics were still leftovers from the pre-big-data era.
• Trump's remittance plan may trigger significant disruptions
  President-elect Donald Trump's well-publicized plan to build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it could have significant ramifications for a major sector of the payments industry.
• How Trump could stifle fintech
  Donald Trump's stunning upset in the presidential race on Tuesday is likely to embolden his followers to push for changes to Internet law that could significantly alter how financial technology is conceived, built and delivered to market.
• Trump likely to take military approach to cybersecurity
  High-profile data breaches at insurance companies, healthcare providers, major retailers, government agencies and his vanquished opponent s own aides — illustrate a need for action.

Wealth Management
Key issues: Fiduciary, SEC, Financial Regulation. With coverage from Financial Planning and On Wall Street

• Trump tax overhaul will create planning opportunities
  Confusion among affluent taxpayers could lead to new ways to help clients.
• How could President Trump fix Social Security?
  Trump's indirect plans for Social Security will take years to take hold — and if they don't work we'll be facing an even bigger challenge.
• What Trump's election really means to employees' retirement plans
  Workers' savings hasn't been a No. 1 priority for the President-elect, but he has vowed not to cut Social Security.
• Fiduciary rule 'in jeopardy' under Trump
  The Republican's hostility to all things Obama sets the stage for dramatic departures on financial regulation.

Taxation
Key issues: Tax Reform and Policy. With coverage from Accounting Today

• Trump tax plan: banks could save more than $30B a year
  Bankers can't start spending their tax cuts under the Trump administration yet because there are so many X factors — including what exactly the new president would seek to steer through Congress. But they sure have fun thinking about what they'd do with the billions of dollars in savings that are possible.
• Election creates 'very real possibility' of tax reform
  With Donald Trump having aligned his tax plans with those of Congressional Republicans over the course of the campaign, his election puts the GOP in a position to enact significant changes in the nation's tax system.
• Trump's tax challenge: Finding a way to pay for cuts
  Donald Trump has already done the impossible by winning the presidency, but once he takes office he may have to do so again – by finding a way to pay for the across-the-board tax cuts he promised during his campaign.

Infrastructure
Key issues: Bond Elections, Tax Credit Bonds, Transportation. With coverage from The Bond Buyer

• Trump's Infrastructure Plan Draws Support, But Could Hurt Munis
  President-elect Donald Trump's promise to rebuild the nation's infrastructure is resonating with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, but could spell trouble for municipal bonds.
• Trump Dismantling of Dodd-Frank, Halt on New Rules Could Affect Munis
  Donald Trump's plans to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act and impose a moratorium on new regulations could affect the municipal bond market.
• Roaring Down the Track: Tax Reform
  The stage for is set for historic tax reform that could imperil the tax exemption for municipal bonds.
• Election Roundup: Calif. $9B Measure Wins
  The largest proposition on ballots, a $9 billion California statewide measure that provides school districts, community college districts and charter schools with matching state funds for school construction, appears to have been approved, while Golden State voters were nearly split on the proposal to require a vote if the state wants to issue more than $2 billion of revenue bonds.
• Southeast Voters Pick Two Governors, Decide Bond and Tax Measures
  In Tuesday's election, North Carolina and West Virginia got new governors while the region also saw the passage of bond-related measures, including big-ticket transportation initiatives.
• Southwest Voters Approve Large Bond Issues
  A $500 million bond issue for a new Major League Baseball stadium in Arlington, Texas, a $720 million transportation issue in Austin and a record amount of school bonds in Colorado were among the winners in Tuesday's elections in the Southwest.

Healthcare
Key issues: Affordable Care Act, Senate HELP Committee, Value-Based Care. With coverage from Health Data Management, Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser

• Who will lead the charge for Trumpcare?
  Washington insiders are likely candidates as point person to repeal and replace the ACA in the forthcoming administration.
• 4 ways Trump's win affects health care planning
  Here's how financial advisers can help prepare clients for what comes next.
• Failed Colorado universal healthcare initiative ' a warning shot to employers'
  Amendment 69 defeat gives businesses a push to affect change in the employer-sponsored benefit market.
• How a Trump upset could reshape benefits
  With the Republican taking the White House, employers can expect that "every element" of the Affordable Care Act will be challenged.
• Control secured, Senate GOP leaders to focus on medical bill
  Republicans will return to Washington for a lame duck session of Congress to tackle two top priorities: funding the federal government and passing medical innovation legislation into law.
• Trump administration offers unknown future for value-based care
  The future of value-based care initiatives is now in doubt as a result of the surprising victory of President-elect Donald Trump, and with Republicans retaining control of both the House and the Senate in 2016 elections.