Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer, FIRST HAWAIIAN INC
Kennedy questions Kelly, Harrison, Podsiadly, Rice in Senate Banking Committee
About Robert Harrison
On July 13, 2026, Robert Harrison participated in a conference call announcing First Hawaiian’s acquisition of TriCo Bancshares in an all-stock transaction. During the call, Harrison described the partnership as a “great deal” and noted that he and TriCo CEO Rick Smith had developed a strong rapport, citing similarities in their banking experiences and approaches to customers, relationships, employees, and community support. He expressed excitement about the opportunity and emphasized a focus on executing a successful integration process.
Transcript (50 segments)
S
Senator Kennedy0:00
Senator Kennedy.
Mr. Rice, you think we ought to raise the deposit limit to 20 million, right? And that's for payroll counselor. Yes. And Mr. Harrison, you agree with that?
R
Robert Harrison0:20
I think that'd be helpful. Yes, Senator.
S
Senator Kennedy0:23
Mr. Kelly, how about you?
M
Mr. Kelly0:26
The recommendations we put forth. Senator Kennedy, just give me a number if you would. I don't have a number. Our recommendation is it needs to be studied and empirically based.
S
Senator Kennedy0:36
Okay. Mr. Podiatly.
M
Mr. Podiatly0:41
Yes.
S
Senator Kennedy0:43
Thank you, sir. My colleagues are impressed that I can pronounce. Very well done. I used to impress myself. I used to get a lot of it starts with a P going in my undergraduate and high school. All right. I'll call you Scooter.
M
Mr. Podiatly0:59
I'll take that as a...
S
Senator Kennedy1:01
Well, give me a number.
M
Mr. Podiatly1:03
I would agree with Mr. Kelly that it needs to be empirically based and that...
S
Senator Kennedy1:07
Come on, guys. I know it ought to be empirically based. Okay. Well, I'll say this. You know, the one concern that I do... to work at FDIC, give me a number.
R
Robert Harrison1:15
Yeah. Well, the one concern I have is some institution loading up on a significant number of $20 million deposits that then ultimately...
S
Senator Kennedy1:23
So, if you don't like 20, give me a number.
R
Robert Harrison1:27
I don't have one off the...
S
Senator Kennedy1:28
You're not going to give me a number.
R
Robert Harrison1:30
I will give you my best guess, which is that 250 is not high enough and 20 million is probably too high.
S
Senator Kennedy1:41
How much?
R
Robert Harrison1:42
I said 20 million is probably too high.
S
Senator Kennedy1:44
Okay. I worry about... let's suppose we go to 20 million.
R
Robert Harrison1:48
Yeah.
S
Senator Kennedy1:49
Banks are going to pay this through assessments, right?
R
Robert Harrison1:53
Yes. Correct. Risk based.
S
Senator Kennedy1:55
Okay. Mr. Kelly, who's going to push back among the banking community?
M
Mr. Kelly2:04
Senator Kennedy, I'm not sure who will push back on that.
S
Senator Kennedy2:07
All right, Mr. Harrison.
R
Robert Harrison2:09
I think there's some smaller banks that will feel they don't need it. Their deposit accounts aren't that large and they would be not as willing to do that. I think some of the banks that currently have coverage for free will likely push back.
S
Senator Kennedy2:23
Some of the banks that have implicit coverage for free... generally the large... some of the larger banks.
R
Robert Harrison2:30
That is correct.
S
Senator Kennedy2:31
So you think the larger banks will oppose it?
R
Robert Harrison2:34
I don't think they'll support it. I don't know if they will oppose it.
S
Senator Kennedy2:36
How about you, Scooter?
M
Mr. Podiatly2:41
I love the new nickname. I will take that as a warm regard. But I would say that my bigger concern is the aggregation of deposits.
S
Senator Kennedy2:51
Who's going to push back?
M
Mr. Podiatly2:55
I don't know that you would have any institution that would push back other than...
S
Senator Kennedy2:59
Everybody be happy?
M
Mr. Podiatly3:01
Well, it depends on what the cost is, right?
S
Senator Kennedy3:07
Mr. Rice. Who's going to push back?
M
Mr. Rice3:08
Not our 144 million members, sir. They'd be delighted that their paychecks are guaranteed.
S
Senator Kennedy3:14
Who's going to push back, though?
M
Mr. Rice3:16
The bankers, sir. The large banks.
S
Senator Kennedy3:18
The large banks. They're not here today. And I think their silence is implicit on their stand on this. Okay. So here's what I hear you saying. 20 million, index to inflation, but the large banks are not going to like it because they have an implicit guarantee. Does anybody disagree with that?
M
Mr. Podiatly3:44
Does anybody disagree? I certainly don't with Senator Warren's assessment that the big banks don't have to worry about it because they're going to be bailed out. Does somebody disagree with that? No.
S
Senator Kennedy4:00
Okay.
M
Mr. Podiatly4:00
Well, let me add a little color, Senator. I think perspective. So, I led a committee...
S
Senator Kennedy4:06
And I'm sorry, sir.
M
Mr. Podiatly4:07
I led a committee that included banks of all sizes, right? And one of the things I learned in leading that committee is that there is a lot of complexity associated with the credential regulatory aspect of those larger institutions. Their liquidity requirements are very different than mine at $700 million a year. And so it's something that I had to become sensitive to as a leader of that group. And so while we sit here...
S
Senator Kennedy4:31
Let me stop you. I understand you're a smart man and you're a successful man.
M
Mr. Podiatly4:36
Well, I appreciate the compliment...
S
Senator Kennedy4:37
And I appreciate that, but you're telling me here today, all of you, we've got a problem. And correct. We're not going to solve this problem by pondering our navels. We're going to have to come up with a number and index it to inflation. Taxpayers won't pay, the banks will pay, and then find out who's going to push back and why. I mean, that's the challenge. I understand the difficulty and the nuances and the tradeoffs. I get all that. Thank you. And you make... I don't mean to denigrate your analysis because you know a lot more about this than I do, but you're saying we have a problem. I'm asking how we solve it. And what I'm hearing is 20 million bucks, index to inflation. The larger banks are going to raise fresh hell.