Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 3

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S November • December 2016 5 Banks’ Most Valuable Asset Doesn’t Have a Price B ankers may differ on policy, specialty or location, but one thing we all share is the strongly held belief that trust is our most precious asset. Our customers and our communities depend on us to maintain that trust while helping them build their future. In all that we do, we must remain accountable to our depositors and our communities, whether it be through the internal policies we develop or how we follow them. Every day is a new opportunity for us to earn the trust of our customers. Since 2008 – and for decades before that most recent eco- nomic crash – consumer confidence has peaked and dipped, those mountains and valleys bringing with them ebbing and flowing regulations. All the while, banks have remained a stalwart economic engine, striving to make our communities better and our customers financially secure. Those tasks have become increasingly challenging due to overly prescriptive and burdensome regulations aimed at preventing another economic downturn, and more are on the way. As bankers and community members, we place our trust in our elected officials to create laws and rules that appro - priately govern industries, without unnecessarily restricting their ability to serve customers. In the current environment, our customers are either being denied loans or are becom- ing increasingly frustrated with the processes required by counter-productive regulations that are being applied in a one-size-fits-all manner, which have also limited the banks’ ability to give their customers the benefit of the doubt. As bankers, we know that no single product works for every customer, which is why we offer variety and choice. Customers trust us to tailor financial products tomeet their needs. In turn, our lawmakers should require our regulators to tailor regu - lations to the variety of banking models serving customers. In September, 19 bankers fromColorado traveled toWash - ington D.C. to advocate for reasonable reform to the Dodd- Frank Act. This would allow the industry to gain back some of the sensible flexibility it had prior to the financial crisis. Colorado Congressman Scott Tipton is spearheading one of three efforts nowbeing floated at the Federal level: the TAILOR Act. As we’ve told you about before, it would create a method and a requirement for bank regulators to tailor regulations to fit the business models and risk profiles of various kinds of banks, report their compliance annually to Congressional committees and apply the bill to regulations adopted in the last five years. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hen - sarling’s CHOICE Act includes many long advocated-pro - visions: the repeal of the Durbin interchange amendment, the TAILOR Act, the Qualified Mortgage (QM) safe harbor provision for mortgages held in a lender's portfolio, a provision to establish an Office of Independent Examination Review to permit appeals of examination decisions, a provision to raise the Federal Reserve's Small Bank Holding Company thresh - old to $5 billion in consolidated assets, a measure to provide mutual institutions with greater flexibility to exercise national bank powers without changing their charters, legislation to allow highly rated banks to file short form call reports, along with other regulatory-relief legislation, and provisions that would eliminate unnecessary compliance problems and costs. While no progress is anticipated prior to the end of this year on financial reform, we were encouraged by the response we received from the Colorado Congressional delegates we met with. They all were supportive of reaching compromise on financial reformand assisting us with ideas as to how that may be accomplished. These positive statements were made, even with current negative industry news being publicized. Wemust hold them accountable for following thru on their statements. CBA will continue to advocate for reform to balance ap - propriate regulations with our customers’ needs. Whether in private or the public sector, we all should agree that those whom we serve should be our top priority. n David Kelly FirstBank 2016-2017 CBA Chairman Chairman’s Message