February 18, 2022

Recently, many exciting developments in the KBA’s legal services will benefit KBA member banks. First, the KBA will be reorganizing its legal and compliance services to more efficiently serve banks. The KBA Legal Department will continue its 40-year tradition of providing free legal and compliance information to KBA member banks. For banks wanting more legal assistance, including specific legal advice and document drafting, Kansas Bankers Consulting Services, LLC (KBCS) will continue to provide annual fee-based services for contracting members.

On occasion, the KBA receives a request to become involved in a legal matter. Typically, the request is for the KBA to file an amicus curiae brief — or a “friend of the court” brief. In this case, the requesting bank was First Security Bank, headquartered in Beaver, Oklahoma. However, the case involved customers in Kansas and the enforceability of a waiver of the statute of limitations clause in a commercial promissory note under Kansas law. Since most of the commercial promissory notes used in Kansas contain this very clause, the KBA Board of Directors believed this request worthy of its investment.

In case you haven’t noticed, cryptocurrencies are an increasingly hot topic of conversation in this country.
According to a Pew Research Center survey fielded in November, 86% of Americans said they have heard about cryptocurrencies, and 16% said they have invested in, traded or used them. Cryptocurrency use is growing particularly rapidly among younger Americans, with 31% between 18 and 29 telling Pew they have participated in crypto transactions.