ABA Banking Journal - November 2007 - (Page 18)

briefing ABA Chairman’s Position ABA Resources Continued from page 17 BRADLEY E. ROCK CEO, Smithtown Bancorp brock@aba.com Feedback & free training help with compliance A BOOK ABOUT U.S. MARINES IN WORLD War II features a chapter on a fellow named Irving “Buck” Schechter. It tells the story of how this Long Island native, when serving as a commanding officer in the Pacific theater, once received a memo from the top brass directing his troops to stick to field rations even when they had been pulled off the front line. The rationale? To keep them combat-ready. Buck bucked. He called the general who had issued the edict and told him, essentially, to save the field rations for the field. When his men were in the rear, they needed the best food they could get. The story, recounted in this magazine several years ago, reveals a bit of Buck’s character and how he cared for his men. I experienced these qualities myself when Buck, who went on to become a successful lawyer and banker in my hometown of Smithtown, N.Y, hired me— first at his law firm and later at the bank, where I remain today. The field rations story also illustrates the importance of feedback—something I hope you’ll give me a lot of in my year as your ABA chairman. I strongly believe that feedback from bankers in the field to their association in Washington can make a difference—particularly when it comes to minimizing and managing our compliance load. To put it simply, when you tell us about a problematic banking or accounting rule, you give us the chance to fix it. Let me give you an example. Last year, after regulators had proposed guidelines for examiners on commercial real estate lending, we learned from bankers that examiners were interpreting the proposed guidelines as a hard cap. ABA responded by setting up a working group of bankers with expertise in CRE lending and huddled with the top regulators in Washington. The results were clearer final guidelines and more productive field examinations. Proactive feedback is also the idea behind a special new ABA Committee on Bank Secrecy Act Reform. That group, appointed in September by my predecessor, Earl McVicker, will recommend ways to make our anti-money laundering programs work more effectively. What I like the most about this effort is that it turns the tables. Instead of simply reacting to regulators’ proposals, bankers will be the ones putting proposals on the table. With bankers helping to set the agenda, the industry should be able to achieve more meaningful regulatory relief. There’s another way ABA can help alleviate banks’ compliance burdens–and it has to do with your front line. Unveiled at ABA’s convention last month, Frontline Compliance Training is free compliance training for your customer contact staff. The program consists of 73 online courses covering everything from privacy to Truth in Lending (for a full list, visit www.abafrontline.com). Bankers can register as many employees as needed, monitor their progress and print reports of training completed. It’s an extremely generous offer—a typical $500 million bank would normally pay about $5,000 for the same suite of courses. It’s part of ABA’s efforts to deliver so much value for your dues that you cannot afford NOT to belong. Give the program a try and let me know what you think. And if you have feedback on a regulatory or accounting issue, please e-mail me at brock@aba.com. BJ for any reason and extends to suits typically excluded in D&O policies, such as those brought by whistleblowers or alleging illegal profit. The ABA-sponsored insurance program, which celebrates its 20-year anniversary this year, most recently introduced Privacy Liability coverage to address unauthorized access to confidential customer data and provide reimbursement for expenses incurred by banks when notifying customers, reissuing accounts and providing credit monitoring services to monitor potential fraud. The program offers directors and officers’ liability, financial institution bond, internet banking liability, employment practices liability, and other insurance products for community banks. To learn more, visit ABA Corporation for American Banking web section at www.aba.com/CAB or call 1-800-BANKERS. ‘Bank Powers’ latest ABA e-mail bulletin ABA’s newest, free E-mail Bulletin—“Bank Powers: An Update on Permissible Activities”—offers a periodic review of recent regulatory communications that address either new bank powers or the treatment of existing powers. ABA offers 30-plus targeted, timely and free E-mail Bulletins for ABA member bank employees. To subscribe to any or all, just register a user name and password on aba.com. Then click on “ABA E-mail Bulletins” in the lefthand menu under “Member Resources.” Questions? Call 1-800BANKERS. 18 NOVEMBER 2007/ABA BANKING JOURNAL www.ababj.com/subscribe.html http://www.aba.com/CAB/default.htm http://www.abafrontline.com http://www.abafrontline.com http://www.aba.com http://www.ababj.com/subscribe.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ABA Banking Journal - November 2007

ABA Banking Journal - November 2007 Contents Editor’s Column Briefing: Good News for Mortgages Sleight of Mind N.Y. Hiring Bonanza May Be Bane Snapshot: A Look at Held-For-Investment Loan Growth ABA Resources ABA Chairman’s Position “The Moose Bank” Thrives on Manufactured Housing Loans Finding the Middle Way for Your Bank’s Retirement Program Pass the Aspirin Cover Story: Self-Service Steps Up DIY U.K. Style Marketing to Millennials Getting Real With “Gen Wired” Ethnic Marketing: Disinterested Banking Getting Good at Global Sourcing Case in Point Turn Compliance on It's Head Banker’s Mart To Advertise/Index of Advertisers The Economy

ABA Banking Journal - November 2007

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