Pub. 3 2015 Issue 4

7 Winter 2015 The Community Banker that authorize non-bank entities to act as if they were banking entities. MIB will also oppose the state bank bill, should that bill be introduced again. One bill that the MIB will be aggressively supporting is a bill to tackle the growing problem of patent trolling. As several of MIB’s members are keenly aware, patent trolling is the process whereby legitimate businesses have been hit with frivolous pat- ent claims and actual litigation. The patent trolls demand that a legitimate business, such as yours, pay them a licensing or sub-licensing fee for the use of technology on which they claim to have a patent. Senator Cary Smith of Billings has introduced a bill to address this problem. Senate Bill 39 seeks to prohibit “bad faith assertions of patent infringe- ments” by setting minimum standards for demand letters for patent infringement assertions, and to provide enforcement and damages against those perpe- trating such bad faith assertions. In addition to supporting this legislation, the MIB will actively work with the Commissioner of Banking, Melanie Hall, to enact legislation that brings clarifica- tion and regulatory certainty to the Montana laws that impact your institution. Legislative Advocacy is one of the largest benefits you receive from your MIB membership dues. As the legislative process moves forward, we here at MIB are interested in hearing directly from you as to legislation that the Association should or should not support on your bank’s behalf. I will be keeping the mem- bership abreast of legislative developments on a weekly to a biweekly schedule. Legislative updates can be found on the MIB website under the Advocacy link. This being stated, let me take the opportunity to wish you a happy 2015. We hope this year is the best year yet for your bank and for your employees. Once again, we thank you for your membership in MIB and we look forward to seeing you in the coming year. Young & Associates, Inc. Serving Community Banks Since 1978 Phoenix, AZ • Kent, OH The goal of Young & Associates, Inc. is to meet the unique needs of our community bank clients. Our focus is to improve bank pro tability, increase shareholder value, reduce the regulatory burden, and improve bank/regulatory relations. • Strategic Planning • Regulatory Assistance • Capital Planning • Liquidity Planning • Interest-Rate Risk Assessments • Loan Review • ALLL Review • Compliance • Information Technology • Internal Audit • Mergers & Acquisitions Whatever your needs, we have an expert among our 45-person team to assist you. C o n s u l t a n t s t o t h e F i n a n c i a l I n d u s t r y John Fahrendorf Executive Vice President Western Division 602.321.9463