2025 ISSUE 4 A CONVERSATION WITH Bart Stanley Missouri Division of Finance Deputy Commissioner 2025 Annual & Expo Convention
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE PO Box 1765 Jefferson City, MO 65102 (573) 636-2751 | miba.net Editor: MATTHEW S. RUGE Executive Director ©2025 The Missouri Independent Bankers Association (MIBA) | The newsLINK Group LLC. All rights reserved. The Show-Me Banker is published six times per year by The newsLINK Group LLC for MIBA and is the official publication for this association. The information contained in this publication is intended to provide general information for review, consideration and education. The contents do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. If you need legal advice or assistance, it is strongly recommended that you contact an attorney as to your circumstances. The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of MIBA, its board of directors or the publisher. Likewise, the appearance of advertisements within this publication does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of any product or service advertised. The Show-Me Banker is a collective work, and as such, some articles are submitted by authors who are independent of MIBA. While a first-print policy is encouraged, in cases where this is not possible, every effort has been made to comply with any known reprint guidelines or restrictions. Content may not be reproduced or reprinted without prior written permission. For further information, please contact the publisher at (855) 747-4003. Published for the Missouri Independent Bankers Association 4 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE My Final Thoughts as President 6 FLOURISH Creating Financial Freedom for Communities Nationwide 7 FROM THE TOP Community Bankers Are Leaders in Times of Crisis 8 MEET YOUR MISSOURI BANKER Rebecca Mullen AVP/CO & BSA Officer, Branson Bank 10 LEGAL EAGLE SPOTLIGHT The Banking Industry Embraces the Digital Age 13 2025 MIBA Financial Directories Are Available 14 48th Annual Convention & Expo September 8-10, 2025 15 Thank You to Our Early Convention Sponsors 16 MIBA Lobbying Report 17 48th Annual Golf Tournament 18 A Conversation with Bart Stanley Missouri Division of Finance Deputy Commissioner 20 Whole Lotta Thinkin’ Going On Fed’s Forward Guidance Reflects Uncertainty 22 Balancing AI‑Driven AML With Human Control 24 MIBA Summer Board Meeting July 14-15, 2025 26 Welcome New Associate Members 27 MIBA 2025 Upcoming Events 27 34th Annual Scholarship Auction 28 2025 PAC Honor Roll July 1, 2025 29 MIBA’s Endorsed Vendors Are Ready to Help You Go Further 30 MIBA Associate Members 32 News From You 33 MIBA Convention & Expo MIBA Associate Members 34 Upcoming Webinar Schedule 8 4 20 24 The Show-Me Banker Magazine | 3
My Final Thoughts as President PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE I’ve been thinking about bank operations a lot lately. The term “bank operations” is a widely encompassing phrase that, depending on each individual financial institution’s practice, could cover a small area, i.e. only bookkeeping, or an entire backroom or non-customer-facing function. Deposit operations could include not only bookkeeping but also the management of the entire core deposit function: online banking, mobile and remote deposit, debit cards, ITM/ATM, electronic or digital banking, treasury management or business banking. The lending operation’s function also varies depending on the individual bank’s needs. Regardless of what part of the process fits in the lending operations bucket in your bank, the most important fact, as with the deposit side, is that we structure the process to best serve our customers. Several of our MIBA member banks have many employees wearing multiple hats, even deposit and loan operations simultaneously. Besides the two prominent areas of deposits and loans, many other areas fall under the backroom or operations umbrella: compliance, audit, risk, information technology, finance and security, including fraud and cybersecurity. There is no single best practice or process. What is best for each of us is what our bank, our communities and our customers need. Management of that process, regardless of the structure or procedures, is what is most important. Bank management provides administration and oversight of bank operations to ensure financial stability, regulatory compliance, customer satisfaction and profitability. These are four very simple tasks, but sometimes they run opposite of each other. We are tasked with the daily management of credit, risk, compliance, operations, human resources, technology and the resulting financial performance. These key functions of bank management will vary from one person with many hats to whole departments, with the ultimate responsibility flowing up to the CEO and the board of directors. Challenges in today’s banking environment include digital disruption, regulatory pressure, cybersecurity threats, changing customer expectations and interest rate volatility. However, strategies for effective bank management are adapting to be agile, investing in technology and people, creating a strong risk culture, enhancing customer experience, focusing on your people, and creating a culture that attracts and retains customers. Effective management is financial prudence, technological advancement, customer-centric practices and strong governance, which allow us to remain competitive in an ever-evolving landscape. I encourage each of you to think about your bank’s operations and ask if they are working for you. Doug Fish MIBA President, BTC Bank, Bethany, MO 4 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
On another note, when this issue of the Show-Me Banker hits your desk, we will be about a month away from the MIBA’s 48th Annual Convention at The Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake Ozark, Missouri. The convention will kick off on Monday, Sept. 8 with a 10:00 a.m. start to the golf tournament and will end at the MIBAR that night. Tuesday, Sept. 9 starts at 8:10 a.m. with a general session and our keynote speaker. Tuesday evening begins with the President’s Reception and silent auction at 4:30 p.m., followed by the always popular Lobster Fest, live auction and, of course, the MIBAR to conclude the night. Wednesday, Sept. 10 starts at 7:30 a.m. with the ICBA Partnership Presentation and concludes with our closing session. As this will be my final message, the opportunity to serve as the association’s president over the past year has been an honor, and I thank the MIBA Board of Directors for the opportunity. To those who have served in the president’s role in the past, thank you for your service. I’m sure you will all agree a BIG THANK YOU also goes to Matt, Michelle, Rebecca and Jessica. They make the job so easy that all you really must do is show up and be present, which I failed to do at the D&O conference. Thanks, Mark — now we are even! The membership numbers may not reflect my aspirations at the beginning of my term; however, membership remains stable with a few adds and drops. The creation of the MIBA Fraud Committee will serve the association well as we go forward, constantly fighting fraud at our financial institutions. The ability for peers to share what they see in real time in our markets will be invaluable. The association’s survival depends on the transition to the next generation of leaders. I’m optimistic that attendance at the convention will be a more diverse group, or bluntly put, “younger.” To Mark Laune, our immediate past president, thanks for your past and current service to the association. To Curt Brumley, our incoming president, I look forward to working with you this next year, and as I said, 99% of the job is to show up and be present, and the 1% is keeping Matt on track. BANCMAC COMMUNITY BANC MORTGAGE CORP. YOUR COMMUNITY BANK MORTGAGE PARTNER bancmac.com mortgages@bancmac.com 888.821.7729 | NMLS# 571147 BancMac provides correspondent and wholesale lending and is your Community Bank Mortgage Partner to help your financial institution originate fixed-rate secondary market loans including: PROGRAMS • Conventional Loans • USDA Rural Development Loans • Rural Living (Hobby Farm) Loans • VA Loans • Jumbo Loans • FHA Loans OUR PARTNERS RECEIVE: • Superior Service & Competitive Pricing • No Minimum Volumes • Significant, Non-Interest Fee Income • Non-Solicit Protections & More The Show-Me Banker Magazine | 5
As we recently celebrated Independence Day, I can’t help but equate that sense of freedom with what we do as community bankers. We are champions of our local communities, ensuring our customers have access to financial services that afford opportunities for individual freedoms. Take lending, for example. Community bankers bring with us unique attributes — including our nimbleness, creativity and problem-solving — that help us in taking a long-term focus to our customer relationships. We listen to what customers need, factoring in our deep knowledge of our local market, and we offer solutions that address the individual opportunities and challenges of that very community. No two customers are exactly alike, and community bankers identify the right mix to help customers succeed over time. It’s in our DNA to consider the ebb and flow of our landscapes and tailor solutions accordingly. But today’s customers want it all. They seek the relationship and knowledge their community banker provides, but they also want the decision immediately. We live in an instant gratification society, and today’s lending decisions are pressured by a ticking clock. It’s a constant balancing act between ensuring thoughtful, tailored solutions and responding to today’s immediate needs. Fortunately, community banks can deliver both a holistic, thoughtful process and timely decision-making. When we look at outstanding lenders, we see a strong thread of commonality: They have a unique ability to maximize local knowledge, combine it with their personal relationships and offer tools that support the speed and ease of customer experience. By combining technology’s efficiencies and insights with the creativity and nimbleness anchored in a community banker’s personal relationship, we achieve a near-perfect lending solution. At the end of the day, our flexibility and creativity are what set us apart from other providers. Those attributes allow us to be the relationship bankers we are, speaking directly to the financial needs of those we serve. For our customers and communities, I’d say that’s an independence worth celebrating. FLOURISH Creating Financial Freedom for Communities Nationwide Rebeca Romero Rainey President and CEO, ICBA At the end of the day, our flexibility and creativity are what set us apart from other providers. 6 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
FROM THE TOP Community Bankers Are Leaders in Times of Crisis Jack E. Hopkins Chairman, ICBA When faced with a crisis, community banks step up. Our communities rally around us because, as their pillars, community bank leaders take the initiative to oversee recovery efforts. In many cases, we become the disaster recovery center for those in need. For instance, think back to COVID. Community banks were the lifeblood of small businesses in that uncertain time. I know that my bank asked a lot from our employees. We had people coming in on shifts, working around the clock, because sometimes the SBA systems were easier to access at 2 or 3 a.m. We were all in it together, from senior leadership to frontline staff. But the amazing thing was that none of us felt obligated to do it; we all just wanted to help our customers. And when wildfires raged in California and communities needed support, community banks answered the call, both in the moment and in the aftermath. That’s the true heart of community banking: giving back to the community. In my community, we’ve been fortunate not to have experienced that scale of crisis, but when neighboring communities in Rock Valley, Iowa, were ravaged by storms and river flooding, it was their community bankers who were instrumental in becoming the command center for recovery efforts and raising money to rebuild. This drive to help our communities extends beyond times of crisis. At our cores, community bankers are community servants. Whether it’s charitable giving to local nonprofits, engagement in community fundraisers or steps we take within our banks, we are centered on supporting those around us. Case in point: Our employees pitched me to introduce a program where they pay to wear jeans on Fridays. Staff collect money so they can wear jeans, and all donations go to a local nonprofit. A team overseeing the program decides which nonprofit benefits each month, and all I had to do was approve jeans on Fridays. It was a no-brainer, and it is an honor to call out our employees for their generosity. But that’s simply who community bankers are. If we see hardships in the community, if we see something going wrong, we immediately jump to action. Our dedication to our communities is not lip service; it’s a fundamental driver of who we are as community bankers. I, for one, am honored to call myself a community banker because of it. My Top 3 Independence Day memories: 1. Camping with my family as a child. 2. Camping with my kids as an adult. 3. Watching fireworks over the top of Mount Rushmore. The Show-Me Banker Magazine | 7
MEET YOUR MISSOURI BANKER Where is your bank located? Branson Bank is a $366 million-asset community bank with five locations in Stone and Taney Counties, Missouri. What is something unique about your bank? Branson Bank recently celebrated 25 years of service to the community. Our associates work hard to build relationships with our customers, and we encourage them to participate in community events. We even allow paid time each year for associates to get involved and serve. How did you get started in the banking business? Originally, my grandfather, Lester “Giz” Rowland, told me I should apply at one of the banks in town. I started the day after graduation. My grandfather drove me back and forth to my training every day for a week in Springfield, Missouri, so that I could catch up on some sleep while he drove. What is the most important thing you’ve learned from this career so far? To not doubt myself. It is natural for associates to want immediate answers, but as a compliance officer, you won’t know all the answers; you just have to know where to find them. Mullen Rebecca AVP/CO & BSA Officer, Branson Bank 8 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
Tell us about the bank’s community investment efforts. First and foremost, Branson Bank believes that, as a true community bank, it is important to be an active community lender. By maintaining a high loan-to-deposit ratio, we keep local deposit dollars working throughout our local community in the form of high-quality personal, mortgage and business loans. We prioritize giving back to our community. We support many local, nonprofit organizations directly through budgeted giving and various others through giving of our time and resources. To encourage involvement, Branson Bank provides paid time off to associates (during work hours) to get involved and serve, which is one of our company’s core values. We help area organizations like Elevate Branson to secure grant funding (FHLB AHP $1 million grant), which helped underwrite the new tiny home village. This community will serve area residents in need of affordable housing. We honor veterans every quarter through our Veteran of the Quarter program, created in 2009. Every quarter, a veteran is selected by a panel of peers based on service history, accolades and community involvement since retirement from the military. Veterans must reside in Stone or Taney County and be willing to share their story for posterity. Our veteran stories and nomination form can be found by scanning the QR code. https://www.bransonbank.com/ about/veteran-program/ We provide multiple high school scholarships as well as a scholarship to a College of the Ozarks business student each year. We also have an intern program for Ozarks Technical College and College of the Ozarks students interested in banking. What is the bank’s biggest challenge in the area of internet banking/mobile banking? The biggest challenge around internet/ mobile banking is fraud. In today’s society, our customers must be diligent in guarding their private information. To help our customers combat fraud, we have taken a big stance on educating our customers and community by deploying educational videos via social media and offering speaking engagements to organizations, clubs, religious groups, etc. Additionally, we helped create the Tri-Lakes Financial Crimes Group, which includes area law enforcement and bankers from surrounding financial institutions and Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS, the Missouri Department of Revenue Criminal Taxation Division, etc. The group meets monthly to get training and discuss current scams in Stone, Taney and surrounding counties. In July, the group celebrated our one-year anniversary with over 50 members. What’s your favorite thing about your bank/banking in general? My favorite thing in banking is educating associates and customers. We don’t know until we know! If you didn’t have a career in banking, what other career would you choose? Teaching! Besides banking, I worked in children’s ministry for 27 years. During those years, I worked in a nursery, taught first and second grade Sunday school at Children’s Church, taught AWANA Cubbies for 18 1/2 years, and was the director of Preschool Ministry and Children’s Ministry. Any last thoughts? Without God, my amazing family and co-workers, I would not be where I am at today. The Show-Me Banker Magazine | 9
LEGAL EAGLE SPOTLIGHT By Kirstin D. Kanski, Attorney, Spencer Fane LLP The year began with an Executive Order, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” that stated the Trump Administration’s policy to establish the U.S. as a global leader in the responsible growth and innovation of digital assets and related blockchain technologies. As to the banking industry, the Trump Administration’s approach has focused on finding ways to allow the industry to not only service the growing digital ecosystem but also actively participate in its development. In turn, the federal banking regulators have undergone a rapid and significant sea change in approach to the regulatory guidance on the U.S. banking industry’s engagement with digital assets. The industry’s response has varied greatly, from rapid to reticent. At the beginning of the year, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan predicted during an interview with CNBC that if the rules allow it, “you will find the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it.”1 The regulators have now clarified and confirmed that the rules allow it, and the industry is responding. In May, following the most recent confirmatory statement of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), JP Morgan Chase publicly announced that it will begin to buy and sell bitcoin on behalf of its customers — accounting for the transactions and holdings The Banking Industry Embraces the Digital Age 10 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
on statements without providing custody services — and that it has been exploring the development of blockchain technologies, such as its Kinexys2 for more than a decade.3 Other banks, such as The Bank of New York Mellon, have successfully launched digital asset custody solutions.4 Days after the Senate passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act,5 Fiserve Inc. announced that it is developing a stablecoin, FIUSD, in partnership with PayPal Holdings Inc. and Circle Internet Group Inc. for use by its 10,000 financial institutions and merchants. Fiserve’s COO Takis Gerogakopoulos stated in an interview with Bloomberg Law, “The danger for any bank that ignores this trend is, contrary to the past, this is happening. The issue if you are a bank and you don’t participate is that you may lose clients, you may lose flows, you may be seen as stuck in the past.”6 Mastercard then also announced a partnership with Fiserve to broaden the reach and utility of the FIUSD stablecoin.7 And most recently, on June 25, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency publicly posted on X that he has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals to recognize and accept certain cryptocurrencies as qualifying assets for mortgage qualification without conversion to U.S. dollars.8 So, what has changed on the regulatory front to permit the industry’s rapid adoption? A quick recap of the year-to-date regulatory developments leading up to the recent mainstream adoption is helpful. First, on the heels of the Executive Order, the FDIC publicly released 25 previously issued pause letters, followed by a broad swathe of supervisory documents related to institution initiatives to launch crypto-related activities. The FDIC’s responses revealed a repeated message to the banking industry that participation in the crypto industry was virtually impossible. However, in a statement that accompanied the public release of the supervisory records, Acting Chairman Travis Hill stated: “Looking forward,” the FDIC is “actively reevaluating [its] supervisory approach to crypto-related activities. This includes … providing a pathway for institutions to engage in crypto- and blockchain-related activities while still adhering to safety and soundness principles. The FDIC also looks forward to engaging with the president’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.”9 The OCC quickly followed suit, issuing a formal statement in March that “reaffirms that the crypto-asset custody, distributed ledger and stablecoin activities discussed in prior letters are permissible” and rescinding its prior position that national banks must first receive supervisory non-objection prior to engaging in crypto-asset activities, as did the FDIC and the Federal Reserve.10 In announcing the agenda of the OCC, Acting Comptroller Rodney Hood included “accelerating bank-fintech partnerships” and “expanding responsible engagement with digital assets” as two of the agency’s top four priority strategies for the industry.11 Hood has also recognized how broadly and rapidly mainstream adoption of digital assets is occurring: “In today’s digital age, innovation is not optional — it is essential.”12 “More than 50 million Americans hold some form of cryptocurrency. This digitalization of financial services is not a trend; it is a transformation.”13 The legal authority of banks to participate in the crypto-industry has been recognized by the federal banking regulators since 2020, when the OCC issued a trilogy of interpretive letters regarding the types of digital asset services that fall within the statutory sphere of the “business of banking” for national banks.14 Those activities included providing cryptocurrency custody services, holding cash deposits to reserve against stablecoin tokens and acting as nodes on distributed ledgers to verify and facilitate payment transactions. In recognizing the legal permissibility of certain crypto-activities, the OCC emphasized that the risk management required to meet safety and soundness standards would need to be tailored to the specific product and appropriately account for the unique operational risks (e.g., hacking, theft, fraud and third-party risk management), liquidity risks and a written compliance plan to evidence compliance with all applicable laws (e.g., BSA/AML and applicable consumer protection laws). In its most recently issued Interpretive Letter, “Clarification of Bank Authority Regarding Crypto-Asset Custody Services,” the OCC again reaffirmed that banks are authorized to provide crypto-asset custody services, both in fiduciary and non-fiduciary capacities, directly and through third-party sub-custodial arrangements.15 The OCC cites long-standing legal precedent recognizing that as the powers of national banks have been tested over time, their powers “must be construed so as to permit the use of new ways of conducting the very old business of banking.”16 The types of custody-adjacent activities that the OCC has previously recognized as authorized include facilitating fiat exchange and trade transactions, The Show-Me Banker Magazine | 11
settlement, trade execution, recordkeeping, valuation and tax services.17 The OCC’s most recent clarification also confirmed that banks may also “buy and sell” assets that are held in custody at the direction of a customer. Although regulatory clarity is developing, there remains much to be clarified. In a Joint Letter to the president’s Digital Assets Working Group submitted by numerous industry groups on May 1, 2025, the trade organizations jointly recommended three remaining priority initiatives as critical to the ability of banks to maintain their role as essential components in the financial services sector and economy: (1) a coordinated and common approach across all federal bank regulators regarding the ability of banks to engage in distributed ledger technology and related digital asset activities; (2) codification of a technology-neutral approach to determinations regarding what types of activities are legally permissible for banks to engage in; and (3) publication of uniform guidance specific to risk-management expectations for digital asset activities engaged in by banks, including areas such as anti-money laundering and capital and liquidity standards relative to blockchain exposure.18 Realizing that community banks may be facing unique challenges to incorporate digital assets into strategies and operations, on May 12, 2025, the OCC published a Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Community Bank Digitalization.19 The OCC recognizes digital technology solutions as tools that could allow community banks to better serve their customers and meet customer demand, while increasing revenue, improving efficiencies and remaining competitive. The goal of the recent RFI is to “help the OCC better understand the specific obstacles that community banks encounter in their efforts to modernize operations, enhance customer experience and remain competitive in an increasingly digital financial services environment.” The RFI follows the OCC’s launch of its digitalization page earlier this year, which compiles resources specific to community banks on topics such as safety and soundness, risk management and guidance related to emerging technologies.20 Now continues to be the time for banks of all sizes to educate themselves on the digital transformations occurring throughout the industry, which may require gaining subject matter expertise so that boards of directors and senior management can understand the potential impacts that pending legislation may have on future operations, competition for deposits, risks and technology strategies. Reviewing and understanding the areas that the OCC recently sought information on as relevant to future policy is just one way to do so. Spencer Fane attorney Kirstin D. Kanski maintains a comprehensive banking and financial services practice in which she provides strategic legal advice to financial institutions on a variety of bank regulatory, compliance, governance and enforcement matters. She can be contacted at kkanski@spencerfane.com and (612) 268-7002. Endnotes 1 CNBC interview, Brian Moynihan, January 21, 2025. 2 See kinexys by J.P.Morgan Payments. 3 Investor Day | JPMorganChase, May 19, 2025, at 3:05:00. 4 Digital Assets | BNY. 5 The GENIUS Act will now move to the U.S. House of Representatives, where it will be considered alongside its companion Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy Act of 2025 (STABLE Act of 2025) and the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (CLARITY Act of 2025). 6 Fiserv Launches New FIUSD Stablecoin for Financial Institutions: Fiserv, Inc. (FI), June 23, 2025; Fiserv to offer Own Stablecoin, Partners with PayPal, Circle; June 23, 2025, Emily Mason, BloombergLaw, Crypto News. 7 Mastercard partners with Fiserv to accelerate mainstream stablecoin adoption, June 24, 2025. 8 William J. Pulte, Director, U.S. Federal Housing FHFA, @pulte on X, June 25, 2025. 9 FDIC Releases Documents Related to Supervision of Crypto-Related Activities, Statement of Acting Chairman Travis Hill, Feb. 5, 2025. 10 OCC IL 1183 (Mar. 7, 2025) (rescinding OCC Interpretive Letter 1179 (Nov. 18, 2021); FDIC Clarifies Process for Banks to Engage in Crypto-Related Activities | FDIC.gov (Mar. 28, 2025); Federal Reserve Board - Press Release (April 24, 2025). 11 Remarks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Capital Markets Summit: June 2, 2025. 12 Rodney Hood, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, LinkedIn; May 8, 2025. 13 Rodney Hood, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, LinkedIn; May 7, 2025. 14 See OCC IL 1170 (Jul. 22, 2020), OCC IL 1172 (Sept. 21, 2020), OCC IL 1174 (Jan. 4, 2021). The Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC issued similar early guidance on the legal authority of banks to engage in the crypto industry. FRB (Aug. 16, 2022) (SR 22-6; CA 22-6); FDIC FIL (Apr. 7, 2022) (FIL-16-2022). 15 OCC IL 1184 (May 7, 2025), citing 12 U.S.C. § 24(Seventh) of the National Bank Act and 12 U.S.C. § 92a (trust powers of national banks). 16 OCC IL 1184 (May 7, 2025), n. 2 (quoting M & M Leasing Corp. v. Seattle First Nat’l Bank, 563 F.2d 1377, 1382 (9th Cir. 1977)). 17 OCC IL 1170 (Jul. 22, 2020), n. 39. 18 Open Letter to David Sacks, Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Chair, President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, May 1, 2025, at 2, jointly submitted by the Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, American Fintech Council, Americas Focus Committee of the Association of Global Custodians, Financial Services Forum, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and The Clearing House Association. 19 OCC News Release 2025-41, May 5, 2025; Request for Information Regarding Community Bank Digitalization; 90 FR 20212, Request for Information Regarding Community Bank Digitalization, 2025-08280. More than 80% of the institutions supervised by the OCC are community banks. Community Banks | OCC. 20 Digitalization: Resources for Community Banks | OCC. 12 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
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September 8-10, 2025 Tuesday’s General Session speakers will include ICBA Vice Chairman Michael Burke, our 2nd Annual ThinkTECH Showcase, Bart Stanley, the newly appointed Deputy Commissioner for the Missouri Division of Finance, and more. The MIBA Scholarship Silent Auction will take place Tuesday afternoon and will offer a wide array of items for bidding. Join us that evening for the President’s Reception & Dinner featuring our popular Lobster Fest, where we will introduce the incoming officers for 2025-2026, followed by the MIBA Scholarship Live Auction! Kick off the convention with the Annual MIBA Golf Tournament at The Cove, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. signature course. After a day on the greens, join us for the Opening Reception and Exhibit Hall Mixer, featuring Missouri’s largest banking trade show. The evening wraps up with a Rooftop Rendezvous for relaxed networking. Wednesday morning’s MIBA/ICBA Partnership Breakfast is followed by our Hot Topics Sessions, which will include Mat Petersen, Partner at Fenimore Kay Harrison; Frank Berndt, Managing Director at Olsen Palmer; and more! Register Today at MIBA.net or call (573) 636-2751 and join us at The Lake, you won’t want to miss our 2025 September Community Banking Celebration! September 8-10, 2025 The Lodge of Four Seasons, Lake Ozark, MO Book directly with The Lodge of Four Seasons. Online: Visit www.miba.net → 2025 Annual Convention → Hotel Phone: Call 888-265-5500 and request the MIBA room block Rate: $155/night + tax & $15 resort fee
Thank You To Our Early Convention Sponsors!
MIBA Lobbying Report As I write this, Gov. Mike Kehoe signed both SB 98 and HB 754, two pieces of legislation that changed Missouri finance law, into law on July 9. SB 98, sponsored by Sen. Sandy Crawford, was approved and, among other issues, adds the trusted contact provisions sought by MIBA to the law and repeals the requirement that banks and trust companies publish financial reports in a newspaper. HB 754, sponsored by Philip Oehlerking, was also approved and includes the trusted contact provisions sought by MIBA, as well as several other items that were also included in SB 98. The differences in the two bills are that HB 754 changes how gold and silver are taxed and creates the “Constitutional Money Act” that allows “specie” (precious metals) to be used to pay public and private debts using a debit card tied to a precious metals deposit account. HB 754 also includes several provisions regarding trusts and estates. All of the changes in SB 98 and HB 754 will assist banks and trust companies from a management and operational perspective. Thank you to MIBA members, Executive Director Ruge and staff for your assistance this year, and we look forward to working with MIBA in the future. Andy Arnold Arnold & Associates 16 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
The Cove 48th Annual Golf Tournament On Monday, September 8th, MIBA will hold it's 48th Annual Convention Golf Tournament at THE COVE, A Robert Trent Jones Sr. Signature Golf Course. The Tournament tees off at 10:00 am. Entry fee per person is $175Includes 2 mulligans, breakfast with Bloody Mary & Mimosa Bar, lunch, refreshments, cart and green fees. You must be a fully registered convention attendee or exhibitor to participate in the tournament.
A Conversation with Missouri Division of Finance Deputy Commissioner In June, Bart Stanley was promoted to the role of Missouri Division of Finance Deputy Commissioner by Commissioner Mick Campbell. Bart has served as chief examiner since July 2022 and has over 34 years of bank regulatory experience, including the last 24 years with the Division of Finance. We recently had the chance to sit down with Bart and learned more about him and his new position. The following are excerpts from our conversation. What will you be doing in your new role as deputy commissioner? I’ll be helping Mick with the division’s overall administration. I’ve spent my whole career on the banking side. I’ll be learning more about non-bank sections, mortgage, consumer credit, the administration of the office, and budgetary and legislative issues. I’ll also be sharing more public speaking responsibilities with Mick. He and I have been talking about how we’re going to divide up the duties. Over the past year, we’ve been handling things on an as-needed basis. I’m Stanley Bart looking forward to relieving some of the burden that has been on Mick and learning more about the overall management of the division. What are you hoping to accomplish during your first year in this position? I plan on continuing the progress that Mick has made over the past few years with a focus on improving morale, keeping up training efforts, and making the division more efficient. I’m looking at revitalizing some old internal training practices, including a program to reach out to colleges and universities. Whether we teach a class or are available to talk to students in finance, banking or economics, we want to let them know that we exist as an agency and the benefits of the dual banking system. Regardless of whether they come to us after they graduate or go to a bank, we want good people on both sides. Additionally, I want to ensure that we have time to keep up with fintech and AI to understand how they will impact us and the banks. What, if any, challenges do you foresee? Fintech is increasing competition and the complexity of how bankers do their jobs. While there’s value in those partnerships, it needs to be on a walk, not a run, basis. Banks should ease into these things. 18 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
It’s an ever-changing landscape when it comes to keeping up with the regulatory pendulum. You might start here, something changes, and you end up way over there. And three months later, well, we’re told we’re not going to do that anymore. By then, you’ve gone way past where you used to be. The key thing in dealing with regulations is communication. Keep in contact with the regulators and your legislators. Make sure that your voice is being heard when they’re talking about implementing new laws or getting rid of old regulations. Bankers must be aware of what is happening and keep their voices heard in the statehouse. Right now, in Missouri, banks are in great shape. Asset quality is probably as strong as I can ever recall in my career. But as a regulator, I still wonder, what am I missing? What don’t I know? That is always a concern and a challenge. What has your journey to being an examiner looked like? Have you always wanted to work in this field? My dad — I call him “Pop” — was a banker in Illinois for 45-plus years. He started in a one-room bank in a town of about 100 people. He was also a row crop farmer and raised all kinds of livestock: cattle, sheep, hogs and even a few goats. Having helped Pop with both, I knew that the outside is hot and cold at various times of the year, and the inside job is pretty well moderated. I developed an early interest in banking and finance. Mom and Pop would count the offerings on Sunday afternoons after church. Watching them do this taught me a lot about finance and confidentiality — seeing people’s names on offering checks was something you weren’t allowed to talk about. Then, in 1981, Pop built a new bank and got all new equipment. All the old bank equipment ended up coming home with him. This included an early model manual Burroughs adding machine from the 1920s; once you’d punch in the numbers, you had to crank the handle to print the tape. I spent hours playing with that machine, but only after my chores and homework were done. What is your greatest career accomplishment? There is no better feeling than when bankers acknowledge and offer appreciation for the suggestions that you give them on how to improve their institutions. I’ve long said 2+2=4, but there might be 200 ways to get there. Understanding that there are different ways to do things right is essential to being a regulator because not everybody’s going to have the same opinion or the same process. One of the toughest parts of this job has always been figuring out the basics when you walk into a bank — things like where the bathroom is and how to run the copy machine. Once you figure out those simple things, you can get around to the rest. It all comes down to understanding that people and their processes are different, their inclinations and their direction aren’t always going to be the same. Many people still don’t believe in that premise; they think there’s only one way to do things, and it’s black and white. Those are people with whom I have long conversations in hopes of changing minds. What is one valuable insight you’ve gained in your career? I’ve worked for three different state banking departments. I started in Illinois right out of college, then moved to Colorado and finally to Missouri almost 24 years ago. I greatly appreciate the relationships I have developed in all those states and working environments. I have great contacts in those states to this day, and I still reach out to them. One of the things that struck me about moving from Illinois to Colorado was that we dig ditches to get water out of fields in Illinois. In Colorado, we dig ditches to get water into the field. Both of these actions end up with a field full of crops. It’s interesting that just moving 1,000 miles east or west can change things so drastically. This premise of having different processes to get great results holds true in fields and in the banking arena. Please tell us a bit about your family. Family and faith are a big part of who I am. Mom and Pop just celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. As a matter of fact, both sets of my grandparents were married for over 65 years, and Mom and Dad are on that path. My wife and I have been married for almost 28 years. She’s a doctor of audiology for the VA here in Missouri. We have two daughters. The oldest just graduated from Missouri State. She married a fine young man this past November in the middle of her last semester. She is working for Convoy of Hope. Our younger daughter will be a senior at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She is double majoring in space physics and astronomy and astrophysics. The math she does is not 2+2; there are very few numbers, mostly letters, symbols and hieroglyphics. Both of my girls got their mom’s intelligence and my sharp tongue. I’m thankful for the former and working on the latter. When you’re not working, how do you spend your time? I enjoy fishing even though I don’t get to do a whole lot of it anymore. We live in a rural area here in Missouri, and for years our family has run a small berry farm. We hand-planted, weeded and picked strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. Now that my kids are out of the house and not around as much, we’re putting that season to rest and looking forward to doing a little more traveling. I recently restored the first car I bought when I was just 13, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS. My wife and I are looking forward to driving it around the highways and byways of America. Is there anything you’d like to share with independent bankers in Missouri? Pop gave me great advice when I took my first job in Illinois. He said, “You know, a banker doesn’t dream his son will be a bank examiner.” He went on to say, “Always leave a bank better than you found it; it will make your job easier the next time you examine it.” I’ve tried very hard to live by that piece of advice and tried to share it with my co-workers. Pop’s second piece of advice was, “Always communicate. Even if you might end up disagreeing, keep the dialogue going.” After I’d been on the job for a few years, Pop once asked me, “Have you found out the difference between a problem borrower and a borrower with problems?” I told Pop I hadn’t thought about it. He explained, “The difference is that problem borrowers are extra work because they quit communicating. If you’ve got a borrower with problems who is talking to you, you’ll get it worked out.” That same principle applies to bankers and regulators. I want the Missouri bankers who are reading this article to know: I will reply to your emails. I will pick up the phone and talk to you. Our partnership is invaluable to keeping the industry strong. The Show-Me Banker Magazine | 19
Whole Lotta Thinkin’ Going On Jim Reber ICBA Securities Ihope the readers of this column will excuse the lack of decorum in the title, but in reading and listening to the words of the Federal Reserve Board’s members over the past month, I hear a lot of hedging. And far be it from me to second-guess the respective governors and regional presidents of our central bank. If they were asked individually for their druthers, I suspect they’d prefer an economic, fiscal and geopolitical backdrop that had less drama. Not to mention an inflation track that would get back to its elusive 2% target. Alas, such doesn’t seem to be the near-term expectations of the Fed. We were shown their most recent projections for the key indicators in the quarterly Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), released on June 18. Several closely watched metrics, such as inflation and gross domestic product (GDP), had significant revisions from the previous quarter. The notorious “dot plot,” in which the 19 members are obliged to place a marker on a grid that corresponds with their guess as to where the fed funds rate will be in one, two, three years and beyond, reflects a wide dispersion of thought. Quarterly Reset First, let’s examine how the Fed’s outlook on inflation has changed. A year ago, the SEP was projecting the preferred inflation gauge, core personal consumption expenditures (PCE), to end 2025 at 2.3%. It is not exactly to the Fed’s liking, but it is noticeably lower than current readings. Fast forward to March 2025, and the estimate had risen to 2.8% as price increases had proven more durable than hoped (and were the major reasons for monetary policy to remain “restrictive”). The June 2025 SEP hiked the year-end 2025 estimate all the way to 3.1%, citing import taxes as the culprit. GDP is directly affected by inflation in that it’s reported as a “real” number, i.e., net of price changes. Accordingly, the current full-year 2025 GDP estimate is now 1.4%, which is down from the 1.7% projected a quarter earlier. That decline is a mirror image of the expected increase in core PCE. Another corollary of inflation is consumer confidence. Like GDP, there is an inverse relationship between expected price hikes and consumers’ expectations. Higher prices equate to lower purchasing power in the short run, which Fed’s Forward Guidance Reflects Uncertainty Endorsed Vendor 20 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
can lead to lower standards of living. Accordingly, consumer sentiment surveys in 2025 have trended lower, particularly the gauges of future expectations. Stake Your Positions The dot plot of the SEP revealed that the Fed board members are currently encamped in two locations, separated by 50 basis points (0.5%). Of the 19 voters, seven are projecting no rate cuts by the end of 2025, and another eight are projecting two cuts. It’s unusual for the plots to be heavily weighted at two levels that are not contiguous, and I think it reflects that the board collectively doesn’t have a feel for the upshot of trade policy for the rest of the year. In fact, Chairman Powell said as much in his testimony to Congress the week of June 23. Still, whether the number of rate cuts for the remainder of the year comes to zero or four, the target rate of fed funds will remain historically elevated. This will probably result in the shape of the yield curve remaining relatively flat. A couple of wild cards are still in the mix: 1. Supply issues, as Uncle Sam continues to go ever deeper in debt, with institutional investors ready to act, and 2. geopolitics, and the dollar’s continued privileged status as a safe haven in times of turmoil. Running in Place Given all of this, the Fed seems able to sit and watch for a while longer before making any moves, especially with the labor market remaining solid. As stated previously, we could be in for an extended stretch of range-bound yields, and 2025 so far has seen just that, as the last rate cut was December 2024. And what type of bonds do well in stable rate environments? Ones with options, which account for about 80% of the dollars in community bank bond portfolios. The reason is that the callable bonds won’t get called en masse, and investors get to enjoy the incremental yields for periods into the future. So, where this takes us is a place where our central bank — the Federal Reserve — is doing a whole lotta thinkin’, and maybe not so much shakin’. Goodness gracious, great balls of fire. Jim Reber (jreber@icbasecurities.com) is president and CEO of ICBA Securities, ICBA’s institutional, fixed-income broker-dealer for community banks. The Show-Me Banker Magazine | 21
Artificial intelligence isn’t just for big banks anymore. One compelling use case for community financial institutions: reducing the cost, effort and headache of AML compliance. An AI-powered AML solution can automatically review millions of transactions overnight, surface unusual activity and even draft a suspicious activity report (SAR) while your analysts sleep. However, greater speed and scale come with a tradeoff: As system complexity increases, transparency can decrease. To manage that risk, AI-powered AML systems still need human oversight. Some aspects of your program should never be entrusted to AI. Balancing AI‑Driven AML With Human Control By Jessica Tirado, CSI What Kind of AI Supports AML? Although generative AI has dominated headlines over the past couple of years, AI is more than just chatbots. In AML compliance, key AI technologies include: • Machine Learning (ML): Learns and adapts from transaction history to detect anomalies and adjust risk scores. • Natural Language Processing (NLP): Extracts data from unstructured analyst notes or reports. • Graph Analysis: Maps relationships among accounts, people, devices and transactions to spot hidden connections. Opportunities for AI in AML When these techniques are paired with quality data and strong governance, community banks can see powerful benefits: • False Positive Reduction: The system learns normal patterns and suppresses benign alerts, so analysts spend more time on genuine risks. • Faster Investigations: The system auto-collects KYC data, negative news and transaction history, so SARs are completed and filed faster. • Pattern Recognition: The system spots indirect or layered transactions that rules miss, increasing the detection of complex laundering typologies. • Continual Learning: The model evolves alongside criminals’ tactics. Compliance keeps pace without constantly rewriting rules. Risks and Downsides of AI Opacity Rules-based systems are easy to explain: “If X, then Y.” AI models rely on thousands of parameters, making it hard to trace decisions. Without strong explainability tools, this can become a governance risk. Hybrid models, which include AI layered on rules, help balance scalability with transparency. Bias and Blind Spots AI reflects the biases in its training data: • Under-represented groups may be missed or unfairly targeted. • Media sources or sanctions lists can encode geopolitical bias. • Analyst behavior, like clearing alerts faster for familiar customer types, can reinforce skewed patterns. 22 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
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