Pub. 3 2015 Issue 2

6 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org Executive Director’s Report W elcome to the post-annual MIB convention edition of our magazine. Many of the attendees have said it was our best convention yet. Inside, you will find articles, and information that recap the pure fun that disguises itself as our annual state meeting. I particularly commend you to the pages displaying photos from the convention, most of which were snapped by MIB member relations director Laura Welker. As I write this in July, it recently snowed at Big Sky Re- sort. It is hard to fathom that only a few weeks ago we were whitewater rafting down the Gallatin River or playing the 9th hole at the Big Sky golf course on a beautiful Montana summer day. It wasn’t all play at our state convention—the convention also consisted, as it always does, of education programs and speakers, as well as information on the operation of the Montana Independent Bankers Associa- tion. I turn now to two topics addressed during the conven- tion, which warrant additional mention and discussion. First, Melanie Hall, the Mon- tana Commissioner of Bank- ing, briefed the attendees Friday morning on the State Banking Division’s interest in running legislation during the 2017 Montana legislative session to revise and overhaul Montana’s Bank Act, Title 32, chapter 1, parts 1 through 5, MCA. In substance, the Bank Act is the portion of Montana legal code that regulates banks located in Montana. However, as explained by Commissioner Hall during her remarks, in many respects the Bank Act is outdated in its application and directives, having been written for bank- ing practices conducted in a pre-internet and online era. Commissioner Hall sees the coming legislative session as an opportunity to modern- ize the Bank Act to make it relevant to today’s banking and consumer realities. To this end, Commissioner Hall has put together an ad hoc, informal committee of interested persons who are looking at ways to revise and update the Banking Act. Such interested persons include myself, a representative from the Montana Bankers Associ- ation, and several attorneys who specialize in representing Montana financial institutions. However, Commissioner Hall is openly seeking the input of bankers as to how Montana law should be revised, if at all, to allow your banks to effectively compete in today’s business and regulatory climate. Such input includes obtaining suggestions as to what parts of the code should be eliminated or modernized and obtaining advice as to what powers should be grant- ed to the Division of Banking and Financial Institutions to provide them the flexibility to keep up with evolving bank- ing practices going forward. Further, Commissioner Hall is seeking banker input on what the mission and role of the State Banking Board should be. If you are interested in serving on this ad hoc com- mittee tasked with revising Montana’s Bank Act and bank laws or by merely giving advice as to what areas of law and banking practices should be looked at, please either contact me at the Association or contact Commissioner Hall directly at the State Division of Banking. As we seek to move the regulation of the banking industry into the 21st century, your input as someone who understands intimately the field is wanted, needed, and desired. A good place to be- gin your review would be on the Division’s website located at http://banking.mt.gov/. Second, during the annual MIB members meeting on Saturday, I provided the mem- bership in attendance with a recap of MIB’s financials for the year 2014. I also covered the annual audit performed on the Association. For those members of the Association who were not in attendance, the Association’s audit for 2014 was, once again, clean. The auditors determined that MIB was able to provide authoritative guidance for all fiscal transactions entered into by MIB during the fiscal year and that all transactions of the organization were ver- ified. As to the organization’s finances, the financial health of the MIB remains excellent. As of December 31, 2014, total consolidated assets for the MIB and its subsidiary, CBM, was $843,519. Compare this with the total at the end of 2013, which was $841,256. The bulk of the Association’s assets are contained in various certificates of deposit owned by the Association. The vast majority of the Association’s expenditures are for member benefit purposes, such as putting on the state conven- tion, for the CBC regulatory compliance program, and for board member training and assistance. All member banks have been mailed the financials of the organization for the year 2014. If you are a MIB member and you have not yet received your copies of the documents referenced immediately above, please give me a call and I will get those documents to you for your review. MIB is the only financial association in Mon - tana whose mission is to truly serve Montana’s community banks, and on behalf of the MIB Board and staff, I thank our member banks for your continued support. The 2016 MIB annual state convention will be held at the Red Lion Colonial hotel in Kalispell July 21-23, 2015. We encourage you to mark those dates in your calendars now, and we hope to see you there for another great convention. Jim Brown, Executive Director of MIB