# American Bankers Association *Trade association for the U.S. banking industry* The American Bankers Association (ABA) is a national trade association of the U.S. banking industry, founded in 1875.[^1] It lobbies for banks of every size and charter type, including community banks, regional and money-center banks, federal savings associations, mutual savings banks and trust companies.[^1] It is the largest financial trade group in the country, and its member banks hold over 95 percent of the industry's $13.5 trillion in assets.[^1] The association appears once in the Minnesota record. The validated master *[[How Minnesota Got Here]]* records that the ABA's Trust Company Section set up a permanent Committee on Community Trusts in 1920.[^2] The master places that committee within the spread of the community-foundation form, which reached [[Minnesota]] as a trust-department product line.[^2] The record does not document any Minnesota enactment, filing, finding or case that names the ABA. ## History The ABA's own origin account, as summarized on Wikipedia, begins in the Panic of 1873.[^1] In that panic, St. Louis, Missouri, banker James Howenstein was short of funds against large deposit obligations. He relied on letters and information from other bankers to get through it, and he concluded that a fraternal body of bankers would be valuable.[^1] On May 24, 1875, he gathered 17 bankers in New York City to plan a first convention.[^1] That convention opened in Saratoga Springs, New York, on July 20, 1875, with 349 bankers from 31 states and the District of Columbia.[^1] The initial constitution stated the association's purpose: "Promote the general welfare and usefulness of banks and banking institutions".[^1] ## Leadership A board of directors oversees the association. It is made up of bankers from institutions of varying size.[^1] Four volunteer banker officers and a salaried president and CEO lead the association, and the chairman, chairman-elect and vice chairman posts change hands each year.[^1] Past officers include: - George Fisher Baker, treasurer from 1875 to 1895. - Lyman J. Gage, president from 1883 to 1886, who was U.S. Treasury Secretary from 1897 to 1902. - Mark W. Olson, president from 1986 to 1987, who later served as a [[Federal Reserve]] Board governor from 2001 to 2006 and as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board from 2006 to 2009.[^1] ## Membership ABA members include banks of all sizes and charters, and together they employ more than two million people.[^1] The average member bank holds about $250 million in assets.[^1] ## Advocacy After President Barack Obama signed the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the ABA said it would seek revisions to the law.[^1] It said it would lobby for lighter regulation under the Volcker Rule, for changes to derivatives rules and for changes to other parts of the law.[^1] The association has made its opposition to credit unions acquiring banks a top priority of its advocacy and lobbying.[^1] It also opposes letting merchants choose among credit card transaction networks. U.S. card fees average 2–3 percent of the sale value, while the European Union caps such fees at 0.3 percent.[^1] The ABA opposes a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC), citing its costs and its risks to existing financial systems.[^1] In July 2025 it backed H.R. 1919, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.[^1] The bill would bar the Federal Reserve Banks from issuing a retail CBDC, and it would require congressional approval before the Federal Reserve Board or the Department of the Treasury could issue one.[^1] ### State bankers associations The ABA works with 53 independent state bankers' groups through the State Bankers Association Alliance.[^1] State organizations predate that alliance. The Texas Bankers Association, formed in 1885, was the first in the country, and every state had one by 1915, the year the Rhode Island Bankers Association was incorporated.[^1] ## Education and public outreach programs The ABA Foundation is a subsidiary of the association. It runs financial-education and financial-literacy programs, including *Get Smart About Credit*, *Lights, Camera, Save!*, *Safe Banking for Seniors* and *Teach Children to Save*.[^1] ## ABA Nasdaq Index In December 2003 the ABA launched the ABA NASDAQ Community Bank Index (ABAQ), a stock index of community-based financial institutions weighted by market value.[^1] The index is calculated on both a total-return and a price-return basis. It was launched to increase the visibility and market liquidity of community banks.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record The Minnesota record in which this entry is filed includes the federal action announced by the [[United States Department of Justice]] in release No. 26-21 of January 14, 2026, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*.[^3] In that release, Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^3] The record does not connect the ABA to that action. ### When - In 1920, the ABA's Trust Company Section created a permanent Committee on Community Trusts.[^2] *How Minnesota Got Here* records this date as confirmed in validation, together with the founding of twelve community foundations in 1915.[^2] The [[Minneapolis Foundation]] was founded that year.[^2] ### How - The record traces the [[Community foundation]] form to the [[Cleveland Foundation Model]].[^2] [[Frederick Goff]] devised that model at the [[Cleveland Trust Company]] on January 2, 1914.[^2] According to the record, the form came to Minnesota through bank trust departments.[^2] Its present-day Minnesota successors include the Minneapolis Foundation and the [[Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation]].[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *American Bankers Association* (revision 1375209346, retrieved 2026-10-26) — founding, origin account, initial constitution, leadership, membership, advocacy, state associations, ABA Foundation programs and the ABAQ index; CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bankers_Association [^2]: *How Minnesota Got Here* (merged master, footnoted), validated passage on community-foundation scale and form — establishes the Cleveland Foundation Model origin (January 2, 1914), the twelve community foundations founded in 1915, the founding of the Minneapolis Foundation in 1915, and the 1920 creation of the ABA Trust Company Section's permanent Committee on Community Trusts. No URL in the pack; cited by label. [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — establishes the release title and the Attorney General's certification of the case as a matter of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime