Richard K. Davis Foreward
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A “new reality”—a very fascinating combination of words which usually defines a changed circumstance, combined with a new certainty.

This is a practical and useful book about understanding, managing and adjusting to a new regulatory reality. In it, you will find that there are no “final” claims on this new future that we face, rather it focuses on the many lessons learned which can be useful to our preparation and leadership toward a new outcome. In other words, the author defines our “new reality” as fluid circumstances, with an ever-changing (and uncertain) normal.

His message is crafted to teach and educate the readers to be fully aware of the risks and rewards of actions taken in the effort to manage a new future, but his message is clear: Take action!

Greg Wilson is perfectly suited to deliver this message based on his deep and varied experiences in government positions, private consulting and serving as advisor to many challenging financial situations in his lifetime. I fully expect the readers to appreciate his clear and concise story-telling as well as his succinct conclusions.

Greg creates an action-oriented message, which encourages readers with differing objectives to share one common goal: To take some form of considered action to react to these new circumstances and to actively manage their new future.

Specifically, I am encouraged that Greg’s linear and thoughtful approach will guide the readers to consider the circumstances that created this global situation, while allowing each to reflect on some of the best (and worst) practices that followed each milestone in the global meltdown—and the efforts to preclude such an outcome from happening again in our lifetime. His closing chapters are dedicated to providing actionable recommendations that will serve to distinguish this book from many less prospective documents, which recite the severity of the current circumstances, but neglect to provide guidance and advice on how to prepare and respond to the new normal.

The current fluid and volatile regulatory environment, coupled with the timing of this message, is perfectly suited for a “half-time” review. In other words, we are guided through the circumstances that created this political and regulatory response to the global financial failure—and further challenged to use this new knowledge to affect the “second half”—or, the new reality.

This book is written with a bias toward increased financial stability to ensure the prevention of future risks—it expects much greater government intervention and the continuing political pressures that will remain for many years to come. Greg makes some provocative predictions that suggest there will be many unintended consequences from outsider involvement. However, he also expects some negative impacts in the near term, but recommends that the final construction of a stronger and safer financial system will last for a new generation.

The audience for the key theme of this book is senior financial industry executives and boards of directors. The intent is to help these managers and leaders “win” in this new environment—offering advice and guidance on learning, testing, collaborating, and taking action. The future stake of each financial organization will be dictated by the success of each leadership team to adjust and conform to a new environment.

This book is an “easy read” as it is instructive, logical, and ordered in a manner to allow the reader to “learn and act.” It should be considered a “must read” for the leadership team at financial institutions and should be considered a very practical and layman-friendly document for consumption by the board of directors.

Based on the effective combination of real-life examples, simple facts and story-telling, this book provides a thoughtful conclusion: a revolutionary response to an unprecedented global disaster can be most effective with a simple and evolutionary plan and a willingness to adapt and be an active participant in this new reality.

Richard K. Davis
Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
U.S. Bancorp
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Testimonials for “Managing to the New Regulatory Reality”

Managing to the New Regulatory Reality Doing Business Under the Dodd-Frank Act


"Every bank CEO ought to read Greg Wilson's newly published book."

    Barbara A. Rehm, Editor at Large, American Banker, March 17, 2011.

“This is the first book to go beyond what happened and why, and into today’s most pressing question for the industry, which is ‘how do we adapt to and thrive in the post-crisis environment?’”

    Robert P. Kelly, Chairman and CEO, BNY Mellon

“This book provides a broad and easy to understand synopsis of the Dodd-Frank Act coupled with useful strategies, tactics, suggestions, and 10 very valuable lessons for winning, copping, and, indeed, succeeding in this radically new and challenging regulatory environment.”

    Dick Kovacevich, Retired Chairman and CEO, Wells Fargo and Company

“Drawing on his detailed knowledge and high-level experience, Greg Wilson provides clear guidance and actionable advice to help companies and their officers and directors succeed in the new regulatory environment.”

    J. Michael Shepherd, Chairman and CEO, BankWest

“This is an absolutely critical ‘must read’ for financial services executives. Greg Wilson’s book is the only one of its kind which provides a granular ‘how to’ guide to managing our businesses in the new regulatory environment. An excellent read!”

    Norman R. Sorensen, President and CEO, Principal International, Inc. and Principal Financial Group

“In describing the ‘new regulatory reality,’ Greg Wilson does a masterful job in describing how we got here, where we are, and where we are going.

“More importantly, Mr. Wilson offers a clear, practical guide for executives to master the new world of regulatory reality.

“Greg Wilson lived through the recent crisis and now offers us all a blueprint for avoiding the next one.”

    Hon. Steve Bartlett,
    President and CEO,The Financial Services Roundtable

“There have been a number of books written about the recent financial crisis that inevitably led to the introduction and passage of the Dodd-Frank Bill. But this is the first book I have read that takes all the critical events in sequence, describes their impact, explains how that impact contributed to the development of this legislation, then provides an analysis of the bill.

“The book could only have been written by someone with an in-depth understanding of the political process and a thorough understanding of financial markets and financial institutions. Greg is one of a very small number of people who has a sufficient level of understanding of all three to be able to put them together as he has done.

“Two characteristics of the book are particularly notable. First, though I have read many summaries of the Dodd-Frank Bill, most of the summaries repeat the bill’s language or provisions. By contrast, Greg spends little effort reciting the language in the statue and instead explains the impact of those provisions. To anyone other than a banking lawyer, this approach offers a far better means of understanding the content of the bill.

“The second characteristic that I find notable is the ten clear lessons he outlines for managing in a post Dodd-Frank environment. It strikes me that ten or fifteen years ago each of the ten lessons would have been described as the “soft issues” of management rather than the “hard issues” of financial and product line management. In thinking about that I reached the conclusion that the prior “hard issues” are no less important than in prior years, but that management expectations are now higher as these formerly “soft issues” are at least as critical to success these days as are the more traditional success factors.

“It is clear that Greg sees the Dodd-Frank Bill as the culmination of a series of events that, taken together, are a critical milestone in financial services. I agree with that assessment, and therefore suggest that this book should be required reading for any practitioner in this business.”

    Mark Olson, Co-Chairman, Treliant Risk Advisors former Governor, Federal Reserve System, Former Chairman, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board