Print Issue: 2017 - December Edition

Ag loans, cybersecurity and liquidity among regulator concerns

Regulators are generally upbeat about bank conditions throughout the Upper Midwest, said representatives from the regulatory agencies who participated in a panel discussion at the 37th annual Bankers Seminar hosted by the Eide Bailly accounting and consulting firm Nov. 2 in Mankato, Minn. Ag lending, growing concentrations of commercial real estate loans, cybersecurity and liquidity are the issues regulators from the State of Minnesota, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and the FDIC said raise the most concerns. [Continue]

Focus on management best approach for ag lenders, speakers says

Nov. 2. Kohl was addressing bankers attending the 37th annual Bankers Seminar hosted by the accounting and consulting firm of Eide Bailly. Kohl addressed another Eide Bailly group the day prior in Fargo, N.D.

Kohl warned that prices for ag commodities are not returning to the levels experienced between 2006 and 2012. The United States is dealing with a surplus of ag commodities, which is keeping prices low. While productivity is up in many places around the globe, export demand is strong, particularly in light of a weakening dollar. Approximately 21 percent of U.S. ag income comes from exports, he said. [Continue]

CBAI bolsters policy independence, urges reg relief effort

With a vote of the membership, the Community Bankers Association of Illinois strengthened its resolve against a merger with another banking association. The vote took place during CBAI’s annual convention at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Springfield, Ill., Sept. 14-16. The CBAI unanimously approved an amendment to its constitution making it significantly more difficult to change association policy on bank structure or to merge with another association.

Previously, only 60 percent of the member banks in attendance needed to approve any change, but the amendment raised that figure to 80 percent. Proposed changes to matters of policy consistent with CBAI precedents still need only 60 percent approval.

“It elevates the threshold on issues of that magnitude,” outgoing CBAI President Bob Wingert said, leading the final convention of his 43-year career. “In other words, there has to be a meaningful consensus to take that course of action.” [Continue]

Wells Fargo volunteers, donates to keep kids warm

Volunteers from Wells Fargo & Co., delivered more than 50,000 coats to students in 11 schools across Chicago. This is the eighth consecutive year the bank has participated in the donation program. Wells Fargo’s Coats for Kids campaign raised nearly $180,000 from employee donations, company contributions, and private matching grants to buy 10,000 jackets. Wells Fargo employees in Chicago have raised nearly $1 million since the local program launched in 2009. [Continue]

A community bank director’s role: Lessons learned

In the past two years we’ve experienced the sale of four community banks where we served as directors and investors. Our experience as community bank investors, executives and directors was enriched as each bank engaged in the process.

So what did we learn?

First, strategic shareholder value updates should be on every holding company board’s agenda. The board is directly responsible for preserving, protecting and defending the shareholders’ interest in your bank’s capital account. Most directors are not focused on banking on a daily basis; we need to be reminded regularly of community banking trends and valuations. [Continue]

It’s not too late for community banks to disrupt the future

The Money 20/20 conference prides itself in bringing together companies of all sizes and backgrounds, from multi-billion dollar financial institutions to fintech startups working out of their garage, and everyone in between. As a first-time attendee at the world’s largest and most well-known payments conference, I spoke with seasoned vets on what I could expect. “Wear comfortable shoes” and “get ready to be overwhelmed” were the pieces of wisdom bestowed upon me. Comfortable shoes turned out to be a hot tip as I navigated through the 11,000 attendees, 4,000 minutes of content and a 1.8 million-square-foot exhibit hall filled to the brim. By the end of the four-day conference, my pedometer logged me as having walked almost 30 miles. [Continue]

Regtech moves swiftly to the cloud

Financial technology research and advisory company Celent published a report in October titled “Cloud-Enabled Governance, Risk, and Compliance Solutions.” Written by research directors Neil Katkov and Cubillas Ding, the report is based on the authors’ study, sponsored by Amazon Web Services, which examined the potential for GRC in the ever increasing number of services moving to the cloud.

The report contends GRC in financial services is at a crossroads. Legacy systems in this arena are failing commercial banks that have moved to more cutting edge solutions for other operations. And like many of those, the services have become cloud based. [Continue]