General Milley warns bankers: do not avoid global responsibility

Marvin Lynchard, US Department of Defense

NEW YORK. Bankers gathered in the darkened ballroom of the Midtown Hilton were reminded this week that while their business is local, their work is critical to national security and connected to events half a world away.

General Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed more than a thousand members of the American Bankers Association. Annual Congress of 2024thanking them for what he sees as their service to the country and urging them to do all they can to protect the worn-out “rules-based international order.”

“We need to make sure that we’re supporting our best economy, our best military, mature, experienced leaders who are thoughtful, focused, not impulsive, who aren’t going to go out there and drag us around a great power. of war,” Milley said. “History doesn’t repeat itself, but as Mark Twain said, it rhymes. We’re living in one of those moments where history can rhyme.”

Milley, now a senior adviser at JPMorgan Chase, discussed these topics in the context of the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, as well as the development of China’s military capabilities. He warned that these conflicts, combined with growing domestic calls for the US to withdraw from international military and trade pacts, could be “very dangerous”.

The remarks appear to be aimed at former President Donald Trump and his political movement, which advocates both military and economic isolationism. Milley chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first term in the White House, but the former general has since been critical of the Republican presidential nominee.

Milley wasn’t the only ABA speaker to touch on geopolitics and its impact on banks during the event. CEO of JPMorgan Chase Jamie Dimon also emphasized the importance of maintaining the position of the United States at the top of the world economic order.

Dimon acknowledged that some international agreements have been rightly criticized over the years, but argued that they “worked to keep the peace” and should be fiercely protected.

“The real problem is that leadership, and especially American leadership, is doing what is necessary to keep the world free and safe for democracy. It’s the strongest military, the strongest economy,” Dimon said. “We must explain to people why Ukraine is so important now, and help our allies, Israel, survive this terrible time.”

A frequent commentator on political issues, Dimon weighed in on Trump’s position as well as Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He didn’t endorse any candidate publicly, but he did reportedly expressed support for Harris privately.

Even those close to Trump have expressed concern about his policy preferences on defense and trade.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, a former member of the House Financial Services Committee and current member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which develops taxes, said it is critical for bankers to support Trump to cut taxes, roll back excessive regulation and spur growth. But she also expressed concern about her party’s leaning toward libertarianism.

“Where is the Republican Party going to go now? Are we going to be libertarian and maybe a little more isolationist, as some of them want to be, or are we going to go back to what our Constitution wants us to do, which is to balance liberty and security to ensure a safe community?” Tenney said. This is what it will really lead to.”

Throughout the conference, geopolitics was a secondary political issue for speakers and attendees alike, with the regulatory environment, which the ABA called a “regulatory tsunami,” coming in first, followed by growing concerns about fraud and technology. However, the discussions on stage resonated with the bankers in the hall.

“This confirms the fact that banking is constantly changing and is now being influenced by the world. It’s not just a local thing, it’s all the way down to the community banks,” said Mike Porten, a retired banker who used to work at Regions Bank and now teaches a banking course at Tennessee Tech University. “I tell my students, if they don’t like change, they shouldn’t be in banking.”

Doug Cook, executive vice president and chief lending officer of Berlin, Maryland-based Taylor Bank, said the conversations — especially the fireside chat with Millie — provided him with important information as both a banker and a citizen.

“Conferences like this allow you to get away from what you’re doing every day, when you’re living in your own little world. You come here and you get an idea of ​​what other people in the country are going through, how the world affects them, and what it should be like for you, Cook said. “Not that you can always do anything about it, but your awareness is huge.”

Michael Neal, CEO of First State Bank in Athens, Texas, said Dimon’s frustrations with the regulatory environment are typical of the broader banking industry, and his comments on global events provided important context for bankers. But, he noted, he does not agree with the idea that the change in the world order is the result of US political tendencies.

“I agree with him, but the global separation is happening organically,” Neill said. “This is happening because of global demographic change, the shale revolution and a host of other factors.”