Pub. 2 2013 Issue 8

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 18 A LL SEATS IN THE KBA’S CHANDLER Board Room were full for the 3rd annual CFO Forum on September 17, 2013. The session was facilitated by Paul Sims, President of Guided Solutions. The entire day was full of interactive discussion accompanied by a message of opportunity in a changing industry. Initial topics included recent experiences in Kansas banks relating to loan demand, rates in response to the economy and trending bank acquisitions. As mergers between institutions occur, policies and procedures are much more easily joined than the diversified cultures among merging parties. The day was very interactive as Paul Sims led discussion on best practices in vendor management and challenges with due diligence requirements for bank investments. There is a balancing act in many banks as the Federal Reserve considers raising rates and CFO’s are faced with managing long term investments in an uncertain environment. Risk management practices are becoming a vital component of daily operations as examiners focus on future capital planning and other forward looking risk assessments. Mr. Sims spent some time describing considerations for assessing global risk as a greater component of various silos of risk measured now. From an enterprise risk management prospective, the CFO is the tip of the spear looking at what they can gain from the process rather than viewing it as something they are required to do. The banking industry is increasingly ramping up cyber security. Internal staff and outside threats are getting smarter and testing needs to be more sophisticated. Vulnerability/intrusion testing is essential for external fraud, but it was emphasized that consistently reviewing internal access and controls are fundamental to preventing internal fraud. Noting that fraud is much more likely to be identified by internal staff, training is also an important component of any fraud prevention program. Wrapping up the day with a discussion on improving efficiency and productivity provided for a collaborative exchange of ideas with many examples shared. 2013 CFO FORUM