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Have You Contributed to NYSIBPAC This Year?
If not...now is the time! We need your help in this statewide election year to support candidates and committees who understand community banks' needs. Can we count on you?
CLICK HERE for our 2015 PAC contribution form. Help support IBANYS' political action efforts in New York State.
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For more information, visit:
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IBANYS' Annual Convention Begins Today:
Watch For A Summary Next Week
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Why Bring YOUR Board Members
& Senior Officers To
IBANYS'
Regional Directors Conferences?
- Wednesday, October 21 (Rochester)
- Thursday, October 22 (Albany)
There are so many reasons! As we work our way out of the latest financial/ banking crisis, we have seen a decline in the number of community banks, and increasing
 regulatory burden.
How can community banks survive and prosper in the current environment?
One way is by providing their board members and senior management teams with the necessary tools and best practices to help lead the bank to future growth and success. IBANYS' two single-day regional conferences will help you do exactly that.
The Program Will Examine Challenges YOUR Bank Faces. . .
Today, And In The Future
- Enhancing the branch structure
- Preparing for interest rate changes
- Ensuring strong financial performance and acquiring the requisite data
- Trends in compensation
- ERM & The Committee Process: Directors' Role
- Maximizing Profitability In A Consumer-Driven Market
- Creating Shareholder Value Beyond Just The Share Price
- The Job Of The Audit Committee
- Regulatory & Industry "Hot Button" Issues
Take A Look At Our Speakers
- Shawn O'Brien, President of QwickRate;
- Greg Dingens, Head of Investment Banking at Monroe Financial Partners;
- David Ruffin, Co-Founder, Credit Risk Management;
- Flynt Gallagher, President, Compensation Advisors;
- Phil Pratt, Senior Consultant, Digital Insight (an NCR Company)
- Peter Scully, Managing Director, BancList.com,
- Patrick Hughes, Partner, & Laurie Shen, Principal, UHY, LLP;
- Karl Nelson, CEO, KPN Consulting
Click here for the full agenda and to register for our 2015 IBANYS Directors Conference.
IMF Report: More Women Directors Lead To
More Stable Banks
Can recruiting a greater proportion of women onto boards lead to more stable banking institutions? A report ("Financial Inclusion: Can It Meet Multiple Macroeconomic Goals") from the International
 Monetary Fund (IMF) suggests so. The report says institutions with a higher proportion of female board directors appeared to have a greater "distance to distress," defined as the amount of buffers that banks have against shocks to earnings. The authors commented: "Several empirical specifications show that, on average, stability is significantly higher in banks with a higher fraction of women in the board of directors." The report noted across most of the world, less than 20% of directors on banks' boards were female, although the number has risen sharply since 2001. Fifteen of roughly 800 banks across 72 countries had female chief executives in 2013.
Community Banks Should Hire Millenials
When industry insiders talk about crucial issues for community banks, many note such challenges as low net interest margins, expensive regulatory compliance requirements, accelerating cost of
 technological relevance and lack of scale. One analyst and former community bank president, Joe Bonner, thinks that a critical shortage of experienced young executives is a big concern. "We need them to take the reins and keep smaller institutions viable for the next decade and beyond, and that problem is staring us down right now. The problem isn't going away unless we get serious about proactively attracting, challenging, and rewarding millennial talent."
Click here to read the entire article from
The American Banker.
IBANYS Webinar On Suspicious Activities
How do we catch the bad guys? The ways financial institutions monitor for suspicious activities must constantly be adjusted to keep pace with criminal masterminds. A free IBANYS webinar Wednesday,
 October 14 (from 3:00 to 4:30 PM) will address advanced monitoring techniques and highlight the latest money laundering schemes. Take the elevated risk out of your institution by learning ways to identify, monitor, and thwart money laundering activities. This webinar will provide useful tools for strengthening monitoring processes and valuable information for everyone from the frontline to the board. This webinar is designed for community banks' compliance officers, BSA officers and assistant officers, and other bank personnel responsible for monitoring suspicious activities.
FinCen: Many Credit Unions Not Filing
SARs Or CTRs
Many credit unions have not filed any Bank Secrecy Act-mandated Suspicious Activity Reports or Currency Transaction Reports for the past two
 years, according to Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery. She told a credit union group yesterday: "Some early research we are looking at suggests that we have a surprisingly larger ... statistically relevant and unusual number of credit unions that over a seven quarter period filed neither a SAR or CTR. She called the number of non-reporters "surprising."
In Other Industry News:
- A survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found manufacturing activity in New York State declined for a second straight month in September, due to steep drops in new orders and shipments. Employment in the sector also fell for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years.
- The U.S. Labor Department today said its Consumer Price Index slipped 0.1% last month, its first decline since January, after edging up 0.1% in July. In the 12 months through August, the CPI rose 0.2%.
- Total mortgage application volume decreased nearly 7% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending September 11 compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications to refinance, which had a brief surge on a temporary rate drop, fell 9 percent from the previous week, seasonally adjusted. Applications to purchase a home, which are far less rate-sensitive, fell 4 percent week-to-week. Purchase volume has fallen 17% in the past four weeks.
Time To Support
"Cure The Blue"
"Cure the Blue" raises funds and awareness regarding prostate cancer research in New York State. Lake Shore Savings Bank President & CEO Dan Reininga recently joined former Buffalo Bills Head Hall-of-Fame Coach Marv Levy and former Bills and Buffalo Bills Alumni Foundation  members Booker Edgerson and Ed Rutkowski at a recent event on behalf of Cure the Blue. The Bills Alumni Foundation and IBANYS are spearheading this long overdue effort, and IBANYS' member bank Lake Shore Savings Bank is strongly supporting the campaign. The bank has "Cure the Blue" ribbon pins available for purchase for a donation at all eleven of the bank's branches, and plans a branch wide fundraising event during September.
Lake Shore President & CEO Dan
Reininga has noted:
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The exciting thing about this is that it's going to be a national campaign at some point. It's very exciting and we're very proud. It's what Lake Shore is all about - putting people first.
Can we count on YOUR bank or firm to join this truly important effort?
Do You Need To Control
Health Care Costs?
The "My Wellness Resource Card" may be your solution to helping to control your health care costs. Upgrade your employee benefits with a low-cost,
 non-traditional program to save time and money, and help retain employees. Provide on demand health care from U.S. board-certified doctors who will provide diagnosis, treatment options and necessary prescriptions via unlimited telephone medical consultations through
Telehealth. This program will also provide discounts and significant savings on a variety of medical and dental products.
Sponsored by My Wellness Resource, Inc. and by IBANYS, this program was
specifically designed to improve productivity, decrease absenteeism and boost morale without straining your bottom line.
Click here and
here to learn more about this exciting new alternative, or visit
www.ibanys.net for details and to enroll.
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATES
IN ALBANY:
Governor Cuomo Wants $15 Minimum
Wage In State
Gov. Cuomo proposed that the New York State adopt the nation's highest minimum wage: $15 an hour. "If you work full time, you shouldn't have to
 live in poverty-plain and simple. The truth is, it's wrong to have an economy where the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, where the American dream of mobility and opportunity has become more of a cruel myth." The GOP-lead State Senate would likely strongly oppose the proposal. New York state's minimum hourly wage across all industries is now $8.75 and hour, and will increase to $9 at year end. Mr. Cuomo's administration has previously said a proposal to lift the pay floor to more than $13 an hour was a "non-starter" with lawmakers. The Governor previously moved to
enact a $15 minimum wage for fast-food workers by impaneling a wage board that recommended the state adopt that pay floor for that industry. The NYS Labor Commissioner accepted that recommendation last Thursday.
NYS DFS, Four Big Banks Reach Agreement
On Symphony Platform
Four big Wall Street banks (Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Bank of New York Mellon) will cooperate with the NYS Department of Financial Services and retain copies of
 communications sent through the messaging platform Symphony. DFS was concerned the platform would allow traders to delete or encrypt information that could potentially be used to track evidence of rigging schemes among traders at various banks. Messaging in chat rooms reportedly figured prominently in schemes to manipulate global exchange rates and benchmark interest rates. DFS Acting Superintendent Anthony Albanese stated: "We are pleased that these banks did the right thing by working cooperatively with us to help address our concerns about this new messaging platform. This is a critical issue since chats and other electronic records have provided key evidence in investigations of wrongdoing on Wall Street. It is vital that regulators act to ensure that these records do not fall into a digital black hole."
IN WASHINGTON:
Credit Unions In D.C. Pushing For Increased Business Lending Authority
The credit union industry is in Washington this week advocating for the NCUA's proposal to raise the cap on member-business lending authority from 12.25% to 27.50%. ICBA and IBANYS strongly oppose the proposal. Congress has rejected similar proposals in recent years. Community banks continue to oppose the measure, and written 1,300 letters to the NCUA and nearly 5,000 to Congress. As ICBA wrote in its formal comment letter, the proposal would would defy congressional intent, weaken loan standards, and jeopardize credit unions and taxpayers. To customize your opposition to the proposal, visit
www.icba.org and click on the "Be Heard" grassroots website.
IBANYS' WEBINARS FOR NEW YORK
COMMUNITY BANKS
Sessions Designed For YOUR Bank!
Why Are more and more New York community banks participating in IBANYS' Webinars?
In today's banking and business environment, community banks face a number of significant challenges. Bank officers, board members and employees understand that their responsibilities (and potential liabilities) continue to evolve. Is YOUR bank doing everything possible to provide them with the information and tools necessary? Are You Ensuring that they are fully informed, and equipped to manage the bank and guide it into the future?
IBANYS' webinars are specifically designed to meet the needs of community banks, and are both effective -- and, cost-effective. Your bank's officers, directors and employees can participate directly from their offices. The sessions are timely and provide real bottom line value.
THOSE are some reasons why participation in IBANYS webinars continues to grow. To review our upcoming programs, c
lick on the link below.
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IBANYS Spotlights. . .
UHY, LLP
In July 2000, several leading regional accounting firms with tenures dating back to the 1960's merged to form a national professional services firm. Today, hundreds of employees serve clients ranging from the dynamic middle-market to Fortune 500 companies. UHY LLP, a licensed CPA firm, provides
audit and other attest services to public and private companies. UHY Advisors is one of the top 20 professional services firms in the US, and UHY International is one of the largest accounting networks in the world. While that scale may provide confidence for some of its clients, most say the greatest value is in the way UHY brings these resources to bear to help address today's evolving business challenges. For additional information, contact Patrick J. Hughes, Partner, in Albany: (518) 449-3171, phughes@uhy-us.com, or visit the website at
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DID YOU KNOW. . .
That "millennials" (born between 1980 and the mid-2000s) are the largest generation in the U.S., representing one-third of the total U.S. population in 2013? Their significance extends beyond their numbers. They are the first generation to have had access to the Internet during their formative years, are the most diverse and educated generation to date 42% identify with a race or ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white), and about 61% of adult millennials have attended college compared to 46% of the Baby Boomers.
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| New York community banks play a key role in our state and local economies. Help spread the good news among your customers, business and elected leaders and media! |
| Click here for quotes from Governor Cuomo and DFS Superintendent Lawsky extolling the performance and value of New York community banks. |
| Click here for the full NYS Study on community banking. |
| Click here to read IBANYS President & CEO John Witkowski's comments on the new tax changes and benefits for New York community banks as approved in the 2014-15 State Budget. Click here for IBANYS' letter to the Editor of Consumer Reports Magazine correcting failure to mention community banks as an alternative to using "big banks." _________________________________ |
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John J. Witkowski
President and Chief Executive Officer
Stephen W. Rice
Director of Government Relations and Communications
Linda Gregware
Director of Administration and Membership Services
William Y. Crowell, III
Legislative Counsel
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