Week of Sept. 11

September 11, 2017

Greetings from Guy

By Guy Sims
OBA Chairman

Another interesting week in Washington politics. President Trump’s decision to negotiate a deal on the debt ceiling with leaders of the Democratic Party may be an indication of things to come. I get the feeling the president is looking for legislative wins and doesn’t care which political party delivers the win.

Like it or not, the deal does effectively free up the month of September on the legislative calendar allowing more time for the tax reform debate and, possibly, common-sense regulatory reform later this fall. I suspect I am being overly optimistic on our issue, but I continue to look for some glimmer of hope.

The Washington visit is scheduled for Oct. 1-3. Adrian reports we have one of the largest groups of bankers attending in recent memory and registrations are still coming in. In addition, we have scheduled some special activities for the Emerging Leaders who are attending.

I especially want to say “thank you” to all of the CEOs who are investing the time and financial resources to send their young leaders to Washington. I’m confident it will be an interesting time to be in Washington D.C., and hopefully we can move the banking agenda forward.

As I write this piece on the anniversary of 9/11, I can’t help but think about how our country came together after that fateful event to defeat those who were responsible. That fight still goes on today. Please remember those people who continue the fight against terrorism. They deserve our respect and gratitude.

Respectfully,
Guy

Equifax data breach impacts millions

One of the nation’s largest credit reporting bureaus sustained a significant data breach late last week, and the breach may have a significant impact on a number of issues, including legislative proposals.

“I’m sure the folks at Equifax are running around in circles trying to understand what happened,” OBA President and CEO Roger Beverage. “But the reality is this huge event is likely to have major repercussions, on a number of fronts, including the current effort in Congress to overturn the (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ‘arbitration’ rule.

“The breach at Equifax is estimated to affect more than143 million Americans. We are told the actual breaches took place from mid-May through the end of July, resulting in the compromise of names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and perhaps even driver’s license information.”

Courtesy the OBA’s Elaine Dodd, below are some links for our OBA bankers to gain more information on the breaches and how it affects them. The first three are from Brian Krebs. He has been advocating security freezes for years now and it is still the best first response in Elaine’s opinion. It would also be a good time to remind customers of the big three for money security: 1. Check your bank statements (paper or online) frequently; 2. Check your credit card statements regularly; 3. Monitor your credit report throughout the year (www.annualcreditreport.com). Be aware and you will stay safe!

Finally, Elaine adds that some banks are notifying their customers about the breach, but not all. The OBA compliance team says there is no responsibility for our banks to make such notifications, but, of course, they can if they wish. Banks who are opting to notify are making it clear their banks has NOT been breached.

If you have any questions or concerns on this trending topic, feel free to drop Elaine a call (405-424-5252) or email (elaine@oba.com).

Senate banking committee approves Otting, Quarles

Yes, we have a Comptroller and a Fed Board member responsible for supervision! Last week, the Senate Banking Committee approved President Trump’s nominations of Joseph Otting as the comptroller of the currency, and Randal Quarles as vice chairman for supervision at the Federal Reserve. The Senate is expected to debate and vote on both nominations in the next few weeks.

Interestingly, Sen Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) voted “aye” on both nominations, thus joining all committee Republicans. Senators Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Mary.) supported the Quarles’ nomination, but voted “nay” on the Otting nomination.

Also happening last week was the announcement by Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer that he intends to retire in mid-October. His departure leaves the board with four open seats unless Quarles is confirmed before Fisher actually retires.

Chase pitches in to help Houstonians

Here’s a SHOUT OUT to OBA-member bank JPMorgan Chase! Last week, the nation’s largest bank announced its efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey beginning immediately. Not surprisingly, Oklahoma bank employees have taken several steps to help.

“If your bank or its employees have pitched in, we’d sure like to know about it so we can demonstrate that banks are not the ‘bad guys,’” OBA President and CEO Roger Beverage said. “We work closely with Chase through Dave Emrick, who’s been our friend long before he began his career with Chase. Dave sent us the following information, and we’re pleased to point it out.”

In FEMA-declared areas: automatically waiving or refunding late fees for mortgage, credit card, business banking and, including auto loans and leases through Sept. 10, 2017;
Automatically starting a 90-day grace period on mortgage and home equity payments. We won’t charge fees or send negative information to the credit bureaus;
Donating $1 million for local flood relief, and will match donations from our employees dollar for dollar. (In the first two days of the employee campaign, Chase employees gave $484,000, which is being matched;
Opening branches as quickly as possible so customers and others are able to talk with bankers or get access to customer safe deposit box;
Keeping our ATMs stocked with cash as much as possible.

Here’s how the bank is helping their employees

For all impacted employees who are paid hourly, they were paid for whatever they were scheduled to work. That’s true both for locations that had to close and for those that were open, but the employees couldn’t make it because of their own personal situation;
An employee assistance hotline was set up for our employees to call for help;
The bank is ready to offer its employees:
- Financial assistance for immediate needs;
- Housing/lodging assistance for those in critical situations with no place to live;
- Paid time away from work to address critical personal needs related to storm/flood recovery for employees and their families;
- Low-interest auto loans are being offered.

Read more at https://www.chase.com/digital/resources/harvey?jp_aid_a=66299508&jp_aid_p=chasehome_3/hero.

Great news from an OBA-member bank showing just the reverse of the larger perception that banks don’t care, especially large ones.

Again, if your bank has done something – anything – to assist Houstonians get their lives back, PLEASE let us know!

Regulators issue additional FAQs on CECL

The federal banking regulatory agencies this week issued additional FAQs to assist banks as the industry continues to prepare to implement the Current Expected Credit Loss model for loan loss accounting. The 14 new FAQs are in addition to the original 23 issued in 2016.

The new FAQs address initial supervisory views about qualitative factors, data needs and the use of the “collateral-dependent practical expedient”; changes in expected credit losses for purchased financial assets that deteriorate in value under CECL after their acquisition; the definition of a “public business entity” and matters related to PBE status; and the process for incorporating CECL into banks’ regulatory reports, including examples for institutions with non-calendar fiscal years.

OBA education corner …

Labor Day weekend is behind us and so is the summer. Ahead of us? Well, take your pick of Oklahoma weather conditions, but one thing is certainly in front of us: more OBA educational offerings! Take a peek at the upcoming events:

Cybersecurity Seminar, Sept. 12, Oklahoma City — This interactive, in-person seminar is designed to provide education on evolving cybersecurity threats and what your institution should do to
prevent, detect and respond to these threats.
Information Security Basics: Board of Directors Edition, Sept. 19, webinar — Many directors would benefit from additional training on your information security program, cybersecurity threats and emerging technology risks.
Equipment Lease Financing, Sept. 19, webinar — This webinar focuses on the many aspects of equipment lease financing, from structure and documentation to monitoring and administration.
Wire Transfer Basics, Sept. 20, webinar — This webinar will cover the basic elements of wire transfers and how they differ from other types of payment channels.
Analyzing Financial Statements, Sept. 20-22, Oklahoma City — Commercial lending officers, credit department personnel, loan review personnel and operations personnel interested in learning more about commercial lending will benefit from this three-day course.
Oil & Gas Lending: Structuring & Restructuring, Sept. 22, Oklahoma City — A must for any bank that has loans or is considering loaning against oil & gas assets.
Fair Lending Risk Assessment, Sept. 25, Oklahoma City — To keep you out of the fair lending abyss, we will use recent enforcement actions to help augment your understanding.
Mortgage Servicing Compliance, Sept. 26, webinar — We’ll focus on critical areas as well as the new rules and provide practical advice on how to meet both regulatory and borrower expectations.
Debt Collection Review & Update, Sept. 27, webinar — This two-hour webinar explains the current FDCPA requirements, recent enforcement actions and the direction of proposed changes.
Advanced New Accounts Seminar, Sept. 26 – Tulsa; Sept. 27 – Oklahoma City — The opening of new
accounts is about to become more complex than ever. Make sure you are prepared.
10 Do’s and Don’t for Social Security and VA Accounts, Sept. 27, webinar — This webinar will cover the accounts that receive government benefits, such as social security and veterans accounts.
2017 OBA/BKD Symposium, Sept. 28, Oklahoma City — This conference is a must attend for all Directors, CEOs, CFOs and others in the banking industry who are impacted by economic, accounting, credit, legal, taxation, regulatory or other issues impacting the banking industry in these challenging times.
2017 OBA Consumer Lending School, Oct. 2-6, Oklahoma City — The school is designed for consumer lenders, credit administration personnel, loan secretaries and others who are involved in consumer lending.
Supervisor Bootcamp, Oct. 11-12, Oklahoma City — Supervisor Boot Camp will help you build essential traits such as leadership, professional maturity and emotional IQ.
Real Estate Lending Compliance Seminar, Oct. 25-26, Oklahoma City — An overview of the real estate lending requirements from each regulation is provided, along with comprehensive coverage of selected topics, policy suggestions, employee training tips, audit techniques and steps to eliminate past problems.
HMDA Essentials seminar, Oct. 27, Oklahoma City — The final amendments to Regulation C modify the types of institutions and transactions subject to the regulation, the types of data that institutions are required to collect and the processes for reporting and disclosing the required data.
2017 OBA Operations School, Nov. 13-17, Oklahoma City — The Oklahoma Bankers Association’s Operations School is designed to prepare junior-level officers to mid-level operations managers to manage effectively and efficiently an operations function within a bank.

Finally, Farmer Mac is hosting “Road Show 2017,” with several tops in the nearby region, including Oct. 10 in Oklahoma City. Attendees can prepare for the upcoming lending season and hear about the latest secondary market tools available through Farmer Mac’s programs. The sessions are designed for new as well as existing program participants. You can learn more by clicking here.