Oklahoma Bankers Association We make bankers better!
In This Issue…
- Sandy’s salutations
- Ag bank relief bill introduced
- Crooks continue to target banks
- Hearing held on small-dollar loans
- OBA Emerging Leaders Mix & Mingles scheduled with OSCPA
- 2019 OBA Convention ready for registrations
- OBA Financial Privacy Seminar canceled
- OBA education corner …
Sandy’s salutations
By Sandy Werner
OBA Chairperson
My dad always said the older we get, the faster time goes. Well, it’s official, I’m OLD because this year has flown by! I am excited about this year’s Convention. It will be held at the NEW Hilton Garden Inn Convention center in Edmond. It is my understanding we will be the only group there and the facility is very nice.
Our two keynote speakers are outstanding. Both speakers are Oklahomans who have made a difference and inspire with their stories.
We are doing something different this year. Our Emerging Leaders are hosting us for a night of bowling at the new ShowBiz Cinema Bowling Center located close to the Convention center. You don’t bowl?? No worries, join in the fun and cheer on those who are bowling. It will be an evening of food, fun and fellowship.
At last year’s Convention, I offered my “thank-you’s”. On Tuesday, May 21, I will offer my final “thank- you’s”. On Wednesday morning the Chairman’s award will be given to a deserving, yet unsuspecting recipient and I will pass the gavel to the Honorable Frazier Henke.
I hope you will join us.
Together, we are the OBA,
——– Sandy
Ag bank relief bill introduced
A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that’s intended to level the playing field with the Farm Credit System by ending taxation on interest earned from agricultural real estate loans for small community banks. H.R. 1872, the Enhancing Credit Opportunities in Rural America Act, was introduced by Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kan.).
“This is a different approach than we’ve tried in the past,” said OBA President/CEO Roger Beverage. “This bill does not impact how the Farm Credit System does business. Rather, it is intended to put banks on the same basic footing as elements of the system, which is different than what we’ve tried in the past.
“We have concerns about how the ‘cost’ of this approach will ‘score’ by the Congressional Budget Office,” Beverage said, “but it sets up the basis for a good debate on the merits of how the system really operates in today’s markets. It clearly is something that would benefit our farmers and ranchers, and that’s a very good thing.”
The American Bankers Association has written to Rep. Watkins in support of this effort and laying out the case for its passage.
Click here to read the letter.
Crooks continue to target banks
We were referred to a report this morning by the ABA that shows fraudsters are still increasing their focus on banks and other financial organizations. According to that report, impostor attacks against financial services organizations rose by 60 percent from the end of 2017 to the end of 2018.
The report was released yesterday by cybersecurity firm Proofpoint. It showed that in the fourth quarter of 2018, 38 percent of financial firms studied were targeted using at least five spoofed identities of the firm’s employees. More than half said at least five of their employees received impostor attack emails.
Impostor attacks included requests for wire transfers and other payments, as well as fraudulent shipment notifications. In addition to business email compromise, impostor fraud tactics included spoofing an email display name or a financial firm’s own domain as well as using a lookalike domain (with, for example, a slightly different letter or number—a type of spoofing that affected a quarter of financial firms in 2017 and 2018).
Slightly more than one-third of emails sent from financial services firm domains in the fourth quarter of 2018 had suspicious characteristics or were unverified.
There are things that can be done to help cut down on this increasing trend.
Click here to read about it in the report.
Hearing held on small-dollar loans
The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions of the House Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing today on a proposal to create the “Office of Underbanked, Unbanked and Underserved Consumers” within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“H.R. 1285, we’re told, is really aimed at the payday lending industry and not at community banks,” said OBA President/CEO Roger Beverage. “I hope that’s true, but its language is broad enough to sweep banks into its prohibitions and that always makes me nervous. Anyway, I know the ABA and I’m pretty sure the ICBA will be in attendance to make the industry’s views known.”
OBA Emerging Leaders Mix & Mingles scheduled with OSCPA
Grab a seat with us May 23 and enjoy drinks and networking hosted by the OBA Emerging Leaders in partnership with the OSCPA’s Young Accounting Professionals Committee. These Mix & Mingles are 5:30-7 p.m., come and go.
The May Mix & Mingle will provide a unique atmosphere to meet fellow upcoming leaders in Tulsa or Oklahoma City metro.
| Tulsa location: Main Street Tavern 1325 E 15th St. Tulsa, OK 74120 |
Oklahoma City location: Banquet Cinema Bar 810 NW 4th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73106 |
Click here to register for Tulsa. Click here to register for Oklahoma City. Or email megan@oba.com for more information.
2019 OBA Convention ready for registrations
Check out the Adobe Spark-rendered page below to learn more about the upcoming OBA Convention and to get registered!
(No time for fancy webpages and simply want to get to the registration page and brochure? No problem: click here!)
OBA Financial Privacy Seminar canceled
The 2019 Financial Privacy Seminar, scheduled for May 2, has been canceled.
All those who have already registered will have their fees refunded. We apologize for any inconvenience. Feel free to contact the OBA education department with any questions!
OBA education corner …
(Sniff … Sniff) Hmmm, smells like spring storm season. Do you have your storm shelter cleaned and out ready? One thing that’s ALWAYS ready is OBA continuing education for bankers – get signed up for an event! And we’ll always keep an eye our for Oklahoma thunderstorms while you’re here!
Take note of the following:
- Equipment Lease Financing, May 7, webinar — This webinar focuses on the many aspects of equipment lease financing, from structure and documentation to monitoring and administration. It will also include a review of the OCC Lease Financing Guidelines.
- Lending 101, May 8, webinar — This is a great training tool for newer lenders and processors, and the webinar will help even experienced bankers understand the source of the various requirements.
- Bank Call Report Preparation for Beginners – Five-Part Series, May 9, 16, 23, 30, June 6, webinar — Designed for bankers new to call report preparation, this series will cover basic reporting requirements, operational schedules, loan schedules, maturity and repricing, and Basel III risk-based capital, plus recent accounting changes affecting the Call Report.
- BSA: CIP and CDD, May 9, webinar — This program will evaluate CDD and EDD regulation, exam guidance and provide thoughts on how to proceed with a program that is sales friendly to the account holder.
- Introduction to ACH: the Basics, May 10, webinar — This is an excellent class for new operations staff and others in the bank who just want to understand ACH.
- Advanced Commercial Loan Documentation, May 13, webinar — Includes everything a commercial loan officer should know about the core commercial loan documentation package, including perfecting security interests on commercial collateral, loan agreements, signature requirements, loan closings and more.
- Opening Accounts for Marijuana-Related Businesses, May 15, webinar — Thirty-three states now have marijuana statutes of some sort. Are you going to bank this industry? How will you bank this industry? What is going on at the federal level? All of these questions will be addressed during this program on how to bank marijuana-related businesses (MRBs) and the risk it entails.
- Handling Loan Applications – What Can Go Wrong?, May 15, webinar — Join this fast-paced webinar to understand the application process with step-by-step instructions and actual examples that explain the requirements of several confusing regulations in terms that are easy to understand.
- Call Reports: RC-C Loan Coding and Related RC-R Reporting, May 17, webinar — Learn when to code the loan based on borrower, when to code based on collateral and when to code based on purpose.