American Bankers Association president and chief executive Edward Yingling is retiring at the end of this year, according to the trade group.
A former bank attorney and lobbyist, Yingling joined ABA 25 years ago to work in legislative affairs and become its chief executive in 2005. The thrift trade group America's Community Bankers merged with ABA in 2007.
Following the financial crisis in 2008, Yingling became the point man for the industry as other bank executives shied away from testifying before Congress and appearing on network news programs.
The ABA CEO also became very critical of mark-to-market accounting policies that caused severe writedowns of bank assets, including MBS.
Yingling, 61, plans to stay active in the industry and may return to practicing law.
