Community Bankers of Iowa Monthly Banker Update May 2014 | Page 3

In This Issue
May 2014 Webinar Lineup............ 2
.
From the CEO & EVP, Don Hole... 3
From the Top................................. 4
Fine Points.................................... 5
Save the Date - State Fair
Conference.................................... 6
Money Smart Week Poster Contest
Winners......................................... 7
Recap: Spring Community Banking
Summits........................................ 8
.
43rd Annual Management
Conference & Convention............. 9
PAC Donations Needed................ 9
.
Abiility to Repay. ......................... 10
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Leadership Transition...................11
Risk Management....................... 13
Up & Coming Banker Award. ...... 14
.
Washington Watch...................... 15
.
Rural Mainstreet Survey......... 16-18
Social Media Background Checks
.................................................... 19

Community Bankers of Iowa
1603 22nd Street, Suite 102
West Des Moines, Iowa 50266
Phone: [phone]

From the CEO & EVP, Don Hole
Lip Service
We all know them. People who will tell you exactly what
you want to hear and then do the exact opposite. Their
sincerity is convincing, but their actions are dubious, if not
downright disingenuous.
Perhaps it’s my own naiveté. One would think that
having been exposed to the world of politics, politicians
and government bureaucrats as long as I have that I would know better. But it’s
obvious that I don’t. I was raised to believe that a person’s word is their bond and
everyone deserves a chance to earn your confidence until they prove otherwise.
And like you, I’m frankly tired of the lip service.
I do not intend to use this column in an effort to indict or bemoan all public
servants. To the contrary, there are many who have served or are serving who
deserve our praise and admiration…people who put service above self, state and
country before ideology. To them, and to what I believe to be the vast majority, I
say thank you.
For the past several years since the passage of the Financial Modernization
Act, aka, Dodd-Frank, community bankers and their advocates have been
encouraged by the steady stream of blogs, tweets, studies, articles, testimony
and speeches on the importance of community banks to our nation’s economy.
Fancy graphs and charts demonstrate small business’ reliance on community
financial institutions and model the importance of these institutions to the
economic livelihood of towns and communities throughout the United States.
Federal regulatory agencies reach out by forming community bank advisory
councils and holding field hearings to demonstrate their “commitment” to
preserving these vital stewards of Main Street, raising our hopes and
expectations that someone is actually listening to our plight and that they will
bravely put forth regulatory frameworks and rules that clearly and appropriately fit
the community banking model’s structure and actual risk profile.
But instead we awake each day greeted by yet another challenge or crisis; a
proposed rule or new accounting methodology that will have a devastating effect
on the community bank business model by eroding capital or earnings and
diminishing bank franchise value. We are encouraged by the promise of moving
regulatory relief legislation, only to find ourselves caught up in partisan bickering
and inaction. It has us all questioning if there actually is some sinister plot to rid
the world of community financial institutions.
At this writing, we find ourselves wrestling for changes to a perplexing and
complicated proposal to change the methodology for calculating allowance for
loan and lease losses proffered by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.
We stay committed to changing harmful new CFPB mortgage rules that make
no sense for customers desiring options, and banks that continue to take on
the entirety of the risk of such loans by keeping them in their own portfolios. Is
it any wonder that for the first tim