Regional Meetings

Bair: “Kids just don’t know” about student debt

Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, a JFK Profiles in Courage Award winner and twice recognized by Forbes magazine as the “second most powerful woman in the world,” called on the U.S. Department of Education to do more to help college students understand the cost of borrowing. [Continue]

DCI conference speaker emphasizes service

Keynote speaker Jack Mackey opened the 2019 DCI annual bankers conference on Sept. 16 with stories from a British bank and a fast food restaurant that provided insights into great customer relationships. [Continue]

Bank owners encouraged to establish tech partnerships

As the incumbent provider of financial services, banks are well positioned to keep customers despite behavioral preferences which trend digital. This is true even for community banks that have struggled to afford digital solutions. The community banking model is, after all, built on relationships first. [Continue]

De novos: Refiguring the cost of entry

The economy has a lot of influence on the de novo market, which might be picking up, albeit tepidly. James LaPierre, FDIC Kansas City Regional Director, shared at a seminar hosted by the Eide Bailly accounting firm that as of Nov. 1, that the FDIC has approved nine applications for FDIC insurance so far this year and the agency currently is considering 12 pending applications. [Continue]

Marijuana dollars spreading

Banks are increasingly going to have to consider the implications of doing business with companies that come into contact with marijuana. Cannabis is now legal for medical use in 23 states; it is legal for recreational use in another 10 states, and it is legal in Canada. [Continue]

New SIFI threshold boosting M&A?

Merger and acquisition activity in the banking industry continues to touch about 5 percent of the nation’s banks. Roughly, the industry loses a bank every business day. As some new investor groups come forward, an acquisition doesn’t always mean the loss of a charter, but usually it does.

S. 2155, the reg relief bill passed in May, is likely to mean an increase in the number of potential buyers. Karen Grandstrand of the Fredrikson & Byron law firm in Minneapolis noted at the Bank Holding Company Association Fall Seminar in early October that the new law changes the meaning of “Systemically Important Financial Institution,” a designation created by the Dodd-Frank Act. [Continue]

Innovation central to Eide Bailly’s Fargo seminar

How do banks remain relevant in an environment of disruption and disintermediation? You can start by creating an awareness of innovation throughout the organization, said Ross Manson, chief innovation officer at Eide Bailly. [Continue]