Pub. 3 2014 Issue 3

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 16 W ITH THE THREAT OF YET ANOTHER snow storm looming, Jonathon Holmes, Valley State Bank, Derby, opened the 2014 Lending Conference with a warm welcome. Community banks are still the primary source of lending for small businesses and farms in America. Now is a time of new opportunity as we emerge from the cloud of unknowns and regulatory practices settle in. David Kemp, Bankers Management, Inc., openly discussed that many banks have consolidated or sold and there are many more who may like to sell their bank due to tight margins, weak loan demand and high compliance costs. The problem is that bank sales are slow and going below book value because money is cheap and deposits aren’t as valuable as they used to be. Kemp’s presentation focused largely on driving community banks forward by optimizing the relationship with existing customers. Following a period of survival, banks are now in a phase of renewal, focused on the customer. He covered multiple best practices coupled with new ideas for facing service, sales and convenience issues of today. KBA President Chuck Stones gave a political update from a national prospective to include tax reform and regulation relief bills under discussion in Washington. He then implored everyone to understand their role in this politically charged environment. “Understand that political risk is real. Our industry can be harmed significantly by politics,” Stones continued, explaining that each banker has a responsibility to convey the message to elected officials that banks play a vital role in the economy and help them recognize the value banks bring to communities. He encouraged involvement in various ways such as building relationships with elected officials at community breakfasts, contributing to PACs, participating in the new ABAAmplify program, and inviting elected officials to their bank to show them first-hand how regulations are affecting the bank practices. The afternoon started out with a tag-team presentation from Terri Thomas, KBA SVP Legal Department and Stephanie Kalahurka, Spencer Fane Britt & Brown, LLP, titled “Turning Up the Volume: Compliance Hot Topics.” Specifics included changes to Reg Z and RESPA as well as a roadmap to ECOA Enforcement and Disparate Impact. There were several break-out sessions to include David Kemp’s “Which Loan Process is Right for Your Bank?”; and Dr. Bruce Morgan, PhD., Professional Bank Consultants, LLC, with two presentations, “Participations That Pass Regulatory Muster” and “Analyzing the Customer’s Financial Statement.” The final break-out was offered by Don Cushing and Chris Endicott, Federal Home Loan Bank, Topeka, titled “To Portfolio or Not to Portfolio… That is The Question.” Doug Wareham, KBA SVP Government Relations, opened day two with a run-down of the upcoming Congressional and state-wide political races. He also highlighted the status of legislation being worked at the Kansas Statehouse that is of interest to the banking industry. The key topic on this year’s agenda is repealing the Mortgage Registration Fee. The closing session by Dr. Mark Dotzour, Economist, Texas A&M Professor, was a dynamic presentation on the political, social and economic trends that are evolving in this country and globally. While affirming that both parties are contributing to the chaos in Washington, Dotzour maintains a bullish outlook for our economy. “Deleveraging is over and Americans are starting to re-engage in economic activity again,” he explained. After the stock market rally that recovered previous losses, people once again have money and they are willing to spend some of it. Also noting that savings is going up as well, we don’t see the amount of debt that typical households obtained previously. Comparing money supply and the velocity of money at historic lows, Dotzour rationalized that we should not see significant inflation. Gary Coleman, Kendall State Bank in Valley Falls, Bobbi Shinn, FHLBank in Topeka and Kevin Moeder, Farmers Bank & Trust Branch in La Crosse. Terri Thomas, SVP KBA Legal Department and Stephanie Kalahurka, Spencer Fane Britt & Brown, LLP, delivered a tag team presentation on hot topics in compliance. KBA LENDING CONFERENCE A NEW DAY WITH NEW OPPORTUNITIES