Week of Sept. 25

September 26, 2017

Greetings from Guy

By Guy Sims
OBA Chairman

Another busy week on the political scene.

The Oklahoma legislature began a special session Monday to address the budget shortfall. The Republican leadership is pushing for a cigarette tax while the Democrats are looking to increase the gross production tax on energy production. Neither proposal appears to have the support to pass the House by the required margin. This likely means more budget cuts in the short term. Meanwhile, the cost of the special session is approximately $30,000 per day per news reports.

In Washington, the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, round two, came to a head today and it will apparently not come up for a vote. If the Republicans cannot pass a bill by midnight Saturday, they will lose the advantage of reconciliation, which allows passage with a simple majority in the Senate. The Republican repeal debacle does not give me great confidence that tax reform can be achieved. I hope I am wrong on both issues.

It’s another busy week at the OBA. The Bankers Night Out series continues this week with meetings in Tulsa on Tuesday evening and Oklahoma City on Wednesday. In addition, the Government Relations Committee met today and the full board meets Wednesday. I look forward to seeing you at one of the events.

Respectfully,
Guy

Equifax data breach impacts millions

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

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).

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:

Buiding an Effective IT Audit Program, Oct. 3, webinar — This session will examine in more detail how the IT Audit Program integrates with the Information Security Program.
ARM Disclosures: Review & Update, Oct. 4, webinar — This two-hour program explains how to develop, maintain and audit ARM disclosures.
Legal Essentials for Lenders, Oct. 4, webinar — This program covers important legal issues and concepts which must be understood and consistently applied to avoid litigation and better serve customers.
The ACH Audit & Risk Assessment, Oct. 5, webinar — Spend two hours with an ACH Auditor and hear what she looks for when performing the ACH Audit and ACH Risk Assessment.
Introduction to Internal Audit, Oct. 5, webinar — This program will discuss the changing role of internal audit and how internal audit may add value in today?s complex banking environment.
Legal Liabilities When Check Fraud Occurs, Oct. 10, webinar — Learn best practices for spotting and stopping fraud losses.
TRID Review and Update, Oct. 11, webinar — This program is designed for mortgage loan department managers, compliance officers, loan officers, auditors and others with responsibilities for preparing, delivering or auditing TRID disclosures.
Understanding Reg CC and the New Amendments, Oct. 11, webinar — A review of the final amendments to Regulation CC, which will impact fraud loss allocation and backroom check processing operations, set to take effect July 1, 2018.
HMDA: Consumer Applications, Oct. 12, webinar — Attend this session and learn more about application processing for consumer loans under the new rules and gain valuable tips that will help your bank prepare for 2018.
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.
OBA 2017 Technology Summit, Nov. 8, Oklahoma City — Spend an informative, education-filled day with RSM’s technology consulting group. The group will share relevant, timely information and industry best practices for your technology risks and challenges.
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.

Additionally, Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City, will be giving a speech on “The U.S. Economy and Monetary Policy” on Oct. 17 at the Sam Noble Museum on the University of Oklahoma campus. This event is free to attend, although seating is limited. For more information and to register online, please visit price.ou.edu/obacfs by Oct. 11, or contact Melissa Bishop at (405) 325-5591 or mbishop@ou.edu.

Also, there will be the 6th Annual Strategic Opportunities and M&A conference on Nov. 5-7 in New Orleans. This conference, co-sponsored by the OBA, Lousiana Bankers Association, Arkansas Bankers Association and Mississippi Bankers Association, is a regional conference of community bank leaders featuring CEO-to-CEO peer sharing, emerging growth strategies, latest M&A trends and stock pricing data and much more. Click here for more information.

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.