Robert R. Davis (born April 3, 1949) is an American

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...

executive. A longtime executive at the

American Bankers Association The American Bankers Association (ABA) is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association for the U.S. banking industry, founded in 1875. They lobby for banks of all sizes and charters, including community banks, regional and money center banks, sav ...

and its predecessor, America's Community Bankers, Davis served for five and a half years as a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Early life and education

Davis was born in Atlanta in 1949. He studied at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, receiving his B.A. in 1972, an M.A. in 1974, and a Ph.D. in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

in 1977. During the 1975–76 school year, he was a visiting assistant professor of economics at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Government service

From 1977 to 1979, Davis was a financial economist at the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cr ...

. He worked at Harris Trust and Savings Bank in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as international economist from 1979 to 1984, at which time he returned to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

to work as senior economist on the Joint Economic Committee. President Ronald Reagan announced his intent to nominate Davis for a seat on the CFTC in July 1984. Davis was confirmed by a voice vote in the Senate on September 28, 1984, and took his seat on the Commission on October 3. At the CFTC, Davis worked to update regulations on hedging and risk management, initiated a review of OTC derivatives and swaps, and helped oversee the regulatory response to the

1987 stock market crash Black Monday is the name commonly given to the global, sudden, severe, and largely unexpected stock market crash on Monday, October 19, 1987. In Australia and New Zealand, the day is also referred to as ''Black Tuesday'' because of the time z ...

Private sector

After leaving the CFTC in April 1990, Davis joined the

New York Mercantile Exchange The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is a commodity futures exchange owned and operated by CME Group of Chicago. NYMEX is located at One North End Avenue in Brookfield Place in the Battery Park City section of Manhattan, New York City. T ...

as senior vice president. In 1993, he joined America's Community Banks—a trade group for thrifts and mutual banks—as executive vice president and director of government relations. At ACB, Davis led the organization's policy engagement on the

Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, () is an act of the 106th United States Congress (1999–2001). It repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, removing barriers in ...

, the Deposit Insurance Funds Act of 1996, and the 1996 tax bill. After ACB merged into the American Bankers Association in 2007, Davis remained as executive vice president overseeing housing and mortgage market policy development, GSE policy, minority bank issues, bank fraud and risk management, and mutual institutions. Prior to his retirement in 2020, Davis led an award-winning ABA initiative based on the MStar risk mapping tool to build a shared classification for

cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

risks and scenarios.

References

{{US-gov-bio-stub Living people People from Atlanta Commodity Futures Trading Commission personnel 1949 births American Bankers Association Reagan administration personnel