Week of April 1

April 1, 2019

In This Issue…

• Sandy’s salutations
• Nominees for OBA board seats announced
• FDIC announced new members for Advisory Committee on Community Banking
• OBA unveils Community Banks Page on website
• OBA education corner …

Sandy’s salutations

By Sandy Werner
OBA Chairperson

Currently, I am in Washington, D.C., attending the ABA Washington Summit with other Oklahoma bankers.

I am excited to be in D.C. at this time to have the opportunity to ask our Oklahoma delegation to support H.R. 1595 and H.R. 1872. In my opinion, both of these bills would have a positive impact on our industry.

H.R 1595 would allow Oklahoma bankers to serve marijuana and marijuana-related business customers without fear of federal regulator penalties. The bill does not legalize marijuana but it does give financial institutions a safe harbor to bank the various aspects of the marijuana businesses.

H.R. 1872 is also exciting. This bill would make tax exempt the interest earned by community banks from agriculture real estate loans. In effect, the bill would help level the playing field with the Farm Credit System for those of us in the ag lending business.

If you believe, like I do, the passage of these two bills would be good for the Oklahoma banking industry, I encourage you to contact your Oklahoma delegation members and ask them to support H.R. 1595 and H.R. 1872.

Together, we are the OBA,

——– Sandy

Nominees for OBA board seats announced

Pursuant to Section 5.4 of the By Laws of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, notice is hereby given that the names of following individuals have been submitted to and approved by the OBA Board of Directors as the slate of nominees to stand for election to the OBA Board of Directors.

The election will take place during the Business Session of the Association’s annual meeting and convention, which will be on Tuesday, May 21, at the Edmond Convention Center and the Hilton Garden Inn, located at Sooner Road and Covell in Edmond. The meeting will convene at approximately noon. Nominations from the floor will be accepted at the meeting.

Group One Group Two

Matt Jackson                  Jay Randels
President & CEO         President
Bank of the West            Community Bank
Thomas                            Alva

Group Three Group Four

Mike Lyles                       Donald Sherman
President                           CEO
First National Bank          McClain Bank
Coweta                             Purcell

Group Five Group Six

Alicia Wade                      Ted Cundiff
EVP/COO                        President & CEO
Valliance Bank                 AVB Bank
Oklahoma City                 Broken Arrow

FDIC announces new members for Advisory Committee on Community Banking

Last week, it was announced that Oklahoma banker Dick Beshear, chairman, president and CEO, First Security Bank and Trust Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is one of six new members to its Advisory Committee on Community Banking.

This Advisory Committee has been providing advice and recommendations to the FDIC on a broad range of community bank policy and regulatory matters since it was established in 2009. Beshear is also a good friend, a former OBA-Board member and a strong advocate for and supporter of the Association.

“The Advisory Committee provides key information and input to the FDIC on issues facing community banks,” FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams said. “We are fortunate to have such talented and highly respected professionals as a resource. I look forward to working with the Advisory Committee members.”

The Advisory Committee on Community Banking discusses and provides input to the FDIC on a wide variety of topics, including current examination policies and procedures, credit and lending practices, deposit insurance assessments, insurance coverage and regulatory compliance.

Besides Beshear, the new members of the Advisory Committee are:

Keith Epstein, EVP & CEO, Roxboro Savings Bank, Roxboro, North Carolina.
Bruce Kimbell, President & CEO, First Community Bank of the Heartland, Clinton, Kentucky.
Thomas Leavitt, President & CEO, Northfield Savings Bank, Northfield, Vermont.
Lori Maley, President & CEO, Bank of Bird-in-Hand, Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.
Cathy Stuchlik, Chairwoman & President, Clackamas County Bank, Sandy, Oregon.

These six new members will join the following individuals already serving on the committee:

Fred DeBiasi, President & CEO, American Savings Bank, Middletown, Ohio.
Christopher Donnelly, President & CEO, Bank of the Prairie, Olathe, Kansas.
Asif Dakri, Vice Chairman & CEO, Wallis Bank, Houston, Texas.
James J. Edwards, Jr., CEO, United Bank, Zebulon, Georgia.
David J. Hanrahan, Sr., former President & CEO, Capital Bank of New Jersey, Vineland, New Jersey.
Danny J. Kelly, President & CEO, The Hometown Bank of Alabama, Oneonta, Alabama.
Kenneth Kelly, Chairman & CEO, First Independence Bank, Detroit, Michigan.
Tiffany Baer Paine, President & CEO, Security Bank USA, Bemidji, Minnesota.
Alan Shettlesworth, President & COO, Main Bank, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Joseph W. Turner, President & CEO, Great Southern Bank, Springfield, Missouri.
Louise Walker, President & CEO, First Northern Bank, Dixon, California.
Len E. Williams, President & CEO, People’s Utah Bancorp & CEO, People’s Intermountain Bank, American Fork, Utah.

OBA unveils Commuity Banks Page on website

April is Community Bankers Month, and in honor of our state’s great community banks, the OBA Community Department has put together a Community Banks Page on our website highlighting the efforts and impacts of OBA community banks on the state and the communities within.

This page features selected “20 Questions!” videos from our bankers where the intertwining of their banks and communities were discussed. Additional features of this page include photos of charity events involving Oklahoma bankers, press releases from recent Oklahoma bank-supported causes and visual snapshots of the importance of Oklahoma banks to the state. We have also included a link to the “Banks on the Web” page on the OBA website that lists the websites for each bank in the state.

The page was built via Adobe Spark in hopes of offering an alternative to a regular webpage as well as to battle the “webpage fatigue” many computer users face. It should work on all monitors and mobile devices, although some extra-wide monitors, as well as cell phones, might reduce some of the visual elements.

Visit the page at https://www.oba.com/2019/03/14/community-page, or click on the Government Relations tab. The page is perfect to share with customers, elected officials or local media! Contact Jeremy (jeremy@oba.com) at the OBA if you have any questions!

OBA education corner …

Spring break has passed and its starting to look beautiful outside … if you’re not too busy sneezing! If you need a break from your allergies, OBA education events are the way to go! Take note of the following:

UCC 3 & 4 and Other Legal Check Issues, April 10, webinar — Understanding endorsements and handling checks is crucial to making sound check cashing decisions.
Reg E Compliance: Five Best Practices for Handling Disputes, April 11, webinar — Our topic for the webinar will focus on several simple steps to handle Reg E customer disputes and inquiries.
Excel Explained: Creating Interactive Spreadsheets, April 12, webinar — When you attend this live presentation, you’ll learn from Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, how to implement multiple techniques to create spreadsheets that are interactive, accurate and user-friendly.
Commercial & Business Lending Basics for Support Personnel, April 15, webinar — This seminar is designed to take the “mystery” out of the commercial lending process and the confusing terminology often used by lenders.
Flood Insurance Compliance, April 16, webinar — This webinar will cover the latest requirements, guidance, best practices and compliance hot spots.
Basic New Accounts, April 16-Oklahoma City; April 17-Tulsa — This program will provide an overview of state law requirements in the area of new accounts, plus federal requirements for beneficial ownership, disclosures, basic TIN compliance, CIP, anti-money laundering and deposit insurance.
Regulation O: Lending to Insiders, April 17, webinar — This program provides the information needed by the lending, compliance and audit staff to assure ongoing compliance with the regulation.
Escrow Accounts Compliance, April 18, webinar — Join us for a two-hour webinar on Escrow Accounts to get a clear understanding of how to set up and maintain compliant escrow accounts. This webinar will cover the latest requirements, guidance, best practices and compliance hot spots.
Loan Structuring Basics, April 18, webinar — The principal goal of this course is to enable you to appropriately structure credit exposures, matching loan type, terms and conditions to the borrower’s identified primary and secondary loan repayment sources and underlying credit risks.
Basics of Banking: An Overview, April 22, webinar — This webinar is a must for all new bankers and/or those that want to “brush up” on their general banking knowledge!
Bank Directors Training, April 23, Oklahoma City — Not only will this seminar help your directors become more knowledgeable, it will be viewed favorably by regulators, stockholders and underwriters.
Safe Deposit Vault Security & Disaster Recovery Essentials, April 23, webinar — Whether you have 50 boxes or 5,000, this presentation provides a realistic and well-organized method of reviewing and auditing your procedures before a catastrophe occurs.
Opening Fiduciary Accounts, April 23, webinar — From court-ordered accounts to authorized signers, a fiduciary account has to be set up correctly and handled perfectly so that your customer gets the best results from the account.
Essential Teller Issues Seminars, April 23-Oklahoma City; April 24-Enid; April 25-Ada — Essential Teller Issues is rated the most dynamic teller training experience in the country. You will want all your tellers to take part in this high-impact workshop.
2019 OBA Ag Conference, April 30, Oklahoma City — Bankers in agricultural and rural markets should plan to attend this year’s conference.