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Have You Contributed to NYSIBPAC This Year?
If not...now is the time! We need your help in this statewide election year to support candidates and committees who understand community banks' needs. Can we count on you?
CLICK HERE for our 2016 PAC contribution form. Help support IBANYS' political action efforts in New York State.
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For more information, visit:
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IBANYS welcomes our two newest associate members. We look forward to their participation, and are delighted they have come aboard and joined our IBANYS family.
- Luse Gorman, PC, a Washington, D.C, based law firm that specializes in representing community banks with respect to corporate, regulatory, securities and employee benefits/executive compensation matters. Visit www.luselaw.com or contact Partner Jeff Cardone: (202) 274-2033, [email protected].
- Main Street, Inc. is based in Birmingham, Alabama, and is in the unique position of being able to offer clients programs that can make a real difference to their bottom line. Leveraging the robust data afforded them through their system, they are able to offer three unique programs to help you grow your account base and provide more robust service to your existing account holders.Visit www.mainstreetinc.com or contact Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Beck:(205) 380-4000, [email protected].
Mark Your Calendars For These
Important IBANYS Events!
All of our 2016 events are on the IBANYS website (www.ibanys.net) under Education/Upcoming Meetings. Many provide CPE credits, offer our member banks unique networking opportunities. . . and afford our preferred providers, partners and associate members valuable sponsorship & exhibiting opportunities.
. . .For IBANYS' 2016 Regional
March 30-31 in Rochester and Albany
will include
presentations by federal and state banking regulators, topical presentations by outside consultants and a "bankers peer panel" discussion. The agenda will include:
- Cyber security and risk management
- CRA/fair lending/community development loans
- Flood insurance
- HMDA, BSA/AML
- Complaint management, including portal systems
...And, For Our Regional Directors Conferences
April 13 and April 14
in Rochester & Castleton (Albany) will feature issues, trends and information for the board members of New York community banks. As we continue to work out of this latest banking crisis, we see a significant decline in the number of community banks around the country. Bank boards and management continue to see increasing "help" from Washington, D.C. -- much of which simply adds to the cost of doing business. With so much pressure on earnings, it's time to look for answers about how we can survive and prosper in the future. We'll examine current M&A Environment, Capital Planning Strategies, and how to prepare for any interest rate environment headed our way... and, much more!
Our CFO/Senior Management Conference
on May 9-11 at The Harbor Hotel in Watkins Glen will include:
- An Economic Update from Gary Keith, Chief Economist with M&T Bank
- A Tax & Accounting Update
- A Regulatory Update
- A Cyber Security/IT Discussion
- A Discussion Of The New FDIC Compliance Manual
- Updates On Interest Rates & Investment Portfolio Management
- Best Practices Updates On Compensation & Employee Benefits
- A Discussion Of The New FASB CECL Model
- Presentations & Discussions On Trends In Banking
IBANYS' second annual Lending Conference June 28-29 at the Woodcliff Hotel & Spa in Fa
irport
(Rochester)
will review all aspects of the lending process. We'll have presentations and discussions on loan review, risk, sales, portfolio management and the impact of CECL.
IBANYS Annual Convention: Oct. 3-5,
The Turning Stone
Our 42nd Annual Convention -- our premier educational meeting and business show of the year -- will be held at The Turning Stone October 3-5. We'll have a  full menu of top notch speakers and presenters, including keynote speaker Steve Greenberg, a veteran political analyst and commentator who will preview the critically important 2016 election for community banks. Plus, our business show, silent PAC auction and much more!. We will provide details on each program, as well as registration information, in the very near future. Watch for updates.
IBANYS will also participate in two important ICBA meetings: The ICBA Annual Convention in New Orleans, March 6-10, and the Washington Policy Summit in late April. There, IBANYS members will meet "on the hill" with Members of our New York Congressional Delegation. Watch for details.
Share With Your Officers & Directors:
IBANYS 2016 Featured Meetings
- March 30, 2016 - Compliance Conference - Rochester, NY
- March 31, 2016 - Compliance Conference - Castleton, NY (Albany)
- April 13, 2016 - Directors Conference - Rochester, NY
- April 14, 2016 - Directors Conference - Castleton, NY (Albany)
- May 9-11, 2016 - CFO/Senior Management Conference - Watkins Glen, NY
- June 28-29, 2016 - Lending Conference - Fairport, NY (Rochester)
- October 3-5, 42nd Annual Convention -Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, NY
- October 19, 2016 - Security Conference - Rochester, NY
- October 20, 2016 - Security Conference - Castleton, NY (Albany)
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATES
The New York State Legislature is in recess until next week. Budget discussions continue. The deadline for approval of the 2016-17 state budget is April 1.
IN WASHINGTON
The House and Senate are not in session.
According to press reports, the Republican State Convention in Erie County March 4 is expected to nominate conservative attorney and activist Wendy Long to oppose U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer in November. Long ran against Sen. Gillibrand in 2012, when Gillibrand won 72% of the vote, establishing a new statewide record margin. Schumer, who is widely expected to succeed Harry Reid as Senate Democratic Leader in January 2017, is a member of the Senate Committees on Banking and Finance. He was first elected in 1998. A recent Siena Poll found 57% of voters viewed him favorably, while 28% had an unfavorable view and 15% had no opinion. He won re-election to his third term in 2010 by a 34-point margin.
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
F
ormer TARP Boss: Largest Banks Still
"Too Big To Fail"
Neel Kashkari, the new President of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, is launching an effort to aggressively reduce the risks posed by the biggest banks.
Kashkari ran the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as an assistant Treasury secretary during the financial crisis. TARP distributed more  than $400 billion in taxpayer dollars to buy up banks' toxic assets. In a speech yesterday to the Brookings Institution, he said Congress has not done enough to protect the financial system from future major risks.
"Failures of large financial institutions pose massively asymmetric risks to society that policymakers must consider...We must acknowledge that the largest banks are still too big to fail." He urged Congress and the regulators to provide the necessary tools, and noted without significant structural reforms, future bailouts of major financial institutions in a crisis situation will be inevitable. He added reforms must happen during in a non-crisis environment because they will be impossible during a period of major market distress. Kashkari
proposed three options for reducing risk at systemically important financial institutions:
- break up the biggest banks
- turn others into public utilities by forcing them to hold large amounts of capital
- taxing leverage throughout the financial system
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton revealed a housing reform plan including a new $25 billion investment program intended to provide down payment assistance and tweaking lending rules to make them more clear, among other things.
Latest Cyber Security Tips & Updates
The NYS Office of Information Technology Services Enterprise Information Security Office (NYS ITS EISO) has announced that the February Cyber Security Tips Newsletter - Avoiding Online Tax Scams - is now available. The monthly newsletter, developed by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), provides helpful cyber security tips and is located on the ITS EISO website.
Copy & paste the URL below into a browser window:
Community Banks: You CAN Control Health Care Costs. . .Here's How!
As a Forbes article (November 23, 2015) on healthcare innovators noted: "Patients with a wide array of non-emergency medical conditions obtain the care they need -- from diagnosis to treatment to necessary prescriptions -- quickly, conveniently and affordably."
Click here to read the full article.
There IS a way for New York community banks to lower health care costs, boost employee benefits and help retain employees. The "My Wellness Resource Card" offers a
low-cost, non-traditional program to save time and money, and allow your bank to  provide on demand health care from U.S. board-certified doctors. They'll provide diagnosis, treatment options and necessary prescriptions via unlimited telephone medical consultations. The program will provide discounts and significant savings on a variety of medical and dental products. Sponsored by My Wellness Resource, Inc. and IBANYS, this program is designed to improve productivity, decrease absenteeism and boost morale without straining your bottom line. It's a way to provide health care benefits, reduce cost and retain employees.
Click here
to learn more about this exciting new alternative, or visit
www.ibanys.net
for details/to enroll.
"Cure The Blue" Is Fighting Prostate Cancer
-- Join The Battle!
The Buffalo Bills Alumni Foundation and IBANYS have joined to lead the effort to raise funds and awareness regarding prostate cancer research in
 New York State. IBANYS' member bank Lake Shore
Savings Bank is among the community banks strongly supporting the campaign: Its "Cure the Blue" ribbon pins are available for purchase for a donation at all eleven branches, and Lake Shore conducted a branch wide fundraising event earlier this fall. As Lake Shore's President & CEO Dan Reininga noted: "The exciting thing about this is that it's going to be a national campaign at some point. It's very exciting and we're very proud. It's what Lake Shore is all about - putting people first. Can YOUR bank or firm to join this effort?
Dudley: Talk Of Negative Interest Rates
Extraordinarily Premature"
New York Fed President Bill Dudley said key components of the economy remain healthy, and called recent speculation about the
Federal Reserve
adopting negative interest rates  extraordinarily premature.
"If things were to turn in a surprising direction and the outlook in the U.S. were to deteriorate sharply, I think there are a lot of things that we would do long before we would really think about moving to negative interest rates. So to me, that's not really something that should be part of the conversation right now." Dudley's comments followed the release of the bank's household debt and credit report. He argued that the financial system looks "clearly stronger" than before the financial crisis, with a better capitalized banking system, and noted:
"The household sector looks much better positioned today than in 2008 to absorb shocks and continue to contribute to the economic expansion."
He highlighted trends in household debt, saying delinquencies fell in the fourth quarter to 5.4%, lowest since 2007.
Latest On Consumer Sentiment
The Index of Consumer sentiment hit 90.7 in February's preliminary reading, according to  estimates by the University of Michigan. The survey measures consumers' attitudes toward current economic conditions and future expectations. Both edged downward for the month. Analysts expected a reading of 92, down from January's preliminary 93.3 and even with January's final reading of 92, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.
IBANYS Webinars Provide
Bottom Line Value!
Community bankers are facing significant challenges. Bank officers, board members and employees know their responsibilities and potential liabilities are not about to diminish. Is YOUR bank doing everything possible to provide the type of information and tools necessary to prepare for the future?
IBANYS' webinars are specifically designed to meet the needs of community banks. They are effective -- and, cost-effective. Your officers, directors and employees are able to participate directly from their offices.
There's a reason
why your industry and association peers are signing up in growing numbers...and why participation in IBANYS webinars has expanded dramatically over the past eighteen months.
Review
all
our upcoming
programs by clicking the link below:
https://ibanys.fed.financialedinc.com/store/webinar
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IBANYS SPOTLIGHTS:
Promontory Interfinancial Network, LLC
Promontory helps financial institutions of all sizes thrive. Promontory Network members use its solutions ̶
Bank Assetpoint®,
Insured Cash Sweep®, or ICS®,
CDARS®,
IND®, and
Yankee Sweep® ̶ to source new asset opportunities, diversify their asset portfolios, reduce collateral requirements, purchase funding, and build multi-million-dollar relationships.
Promontory Interfinancial Network was founded in 2002. Over the past decade, the company has built strong relationships with
thousands of financial institutions
across the nation. Today, it offers unique services that bring Network members and other key constituents together in a way that helps each to benefit from "the power of many" - enabling them to offer services that otherwise might be too difficult or too costly to offer on their own.
Visit
promnetwork.com
or contact Kevin Hamilton:
[email protected]
, (866) 776-6426 ext. 3329. Find out how Promontory can help your bank manage its balance sheet more profitably.
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DID YOU KNOW. . .
. . .that
the Government Accountability Office's annual
report
(December 2015) on Dodd-Frank regulations stated that c
ommunity banks continue to experience increases in compliance burdens associated with Dodd-Frank Act rules?
In a survey of community banks and credit unions, the GAO found that a number of institutions have seen an overall increase in compliance costs, including the amount of staff, training and time allocated to meeting regulatory standards, and that in some cases banks have seen declines in specific business activities as a result of new rules.
Banks specifically noted increased costs related to the CFPB's new TRID rule and regulations related to escrow accounts, appraisals for higher-priced loans and mortgage servicing. They also expressed concern that the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage rule standards could restrict mortgage lending, with many stating they have already scaled back on making non-QM loans due to liability concerns. Has YOUR bank registered for IBANYS' Regional Compliance Conferences March 30 and 31 in Rochester and Albany? Click here to sign-up!
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| New York community banks play a key role in our state and local economies. Help spread the good news among your customers, business and elected leaders and media! |
| Click here for quotes from Governor Cuomo and DFS Superintendent Lawsky extolling the performance and value of New York community banks. |
| Click here for the full NYS Study on community banking. |
| Click here to read IBANYS President & CEO John Witkowski's comments on the new tax changes and benefits for New York community banks as approved in the 2014-15 State Budget. Click here for IBANYS' letter to the Editor of Consumer Reports Magazine correcting failure to mention community banks as an alternative to using "big banks." _________________________________ |
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John J. Witkowski
President and Chief Executive Officer
Stephen W. Rice
Director of Government Relations and Communications
Linda Gregware
Director of Administration and Membership Services
William Y. Crowell, III
Legislative Counsel
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