WASHINGTON-Someone new has stepped into the top spot at the American Bankers Association. Though not new to ABA, Edward L. Yingling officially became the ABA's new president and CEO at the beginning of the month following the retirement of Donald G. Ogilvie, which was announced last year. Yingling has served at the ABA for 20 years, leading staff on legislative, legal, regulatory, tax and policy development activities. The Hill, a newspaper covering Congress, has listed Yingling four years in a row as one of Washington's top lobbyists. As CEO, he now assumes full responsibility for the daily management of the ABA and its 330 employees, eight subsidiaries and affiliates and $75-million budget. "Ed is, hands down, the most qualified person in Washington to head up the ABA," ABA Chairman Betsy Duke, an executive vice president with Wachovia in Virginia Beach, Va., said. "There could not be a smoother leadership transition." Before joining ABA, Yingling was an attorney with a Washington, D.C. law firm representing banks before Congress and the regulatory agencies for 12 years. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford University Law School.