Simmons of Utah Moves up This Week to ABA Chairman

PALM DESERT, Calif. – Perhaps in a departure from years past and with attention focused on hurricane relief, credit unions do not appear on the official agenda of the American Bankers Association annual convention which was to convene here over the weekend. “I really don’t know if credit unions will come up in his speech,” said an ABA spokesman in response to a Credit Union Times query regarding a planned talk on Tuesday when CU nemesis Harris Simmons, chairman/CEO of Zions Bancorp. of Utah, formally moves up to ABA chairman. The conference here, said the spokesman, has a lineup of both paid and prominent speakers “and historically that is an issue that has come before our community bankers conference” which will be held in February 2006. Top speakers for the ABA annual convention here include former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan along with top banking regulators from the FDIC and the Comptroller of the Currency.