6 Hoosier Banker February 2015 About a year ago, my counterpart from South Dakota, Curt Everson, wrote an article for the South Dakota Banker magazine that compared a particularly bad weather day to the difficulties that bankers face daily. I was struck by the analogy and would like to echo those sentiments. The past couple of winters have seen many a cold day, plus many a day of icy snow and subzero winds. Living in Indiana requires the ability to be resilient to these conditions. Even so, it is difficult to remain focused on the task at hand when fighting the elements to get to work, and then fighting them again to get back home. Day after day of struggling for survival can wear us down. Yet we know that eventually winter gives way to spring and summer, and that howling winds calm into gentle breezes. The location remains the same, but time and circumstances change. Those who are steadfast and hold their ground are rewarded over time with warm blue skies and beautiful sunshine. Being a banker for the past several years has been a lot like functioning in a prolonged winter. Being resilient is not an option, it is a requirement. The world that bankers live in and work in has completely changed since 2008, due to the financial crisis. The response by Congress to punish the survivors is known as the Dodd-Frank Act. This lengthy, anti-bank legislation has cast thousands of pages of regulations upon an industry that already was one of the most regulated in this country. The damage to the image of bankers ‒ at one time as respected as the clergy ‒ was immeasurable. Not only did Congress punish bankers, but it punished those who regulated banks, because they had not been hard enough in their examinations. Regulators responded by becoming more difficult in their examinations in order to prove their toughness, at the very time when banks needed their help, not their criticism. Regulators even responded to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by adding burdens to income streams for services desired by customers, such as overdraft protection programs. Fortunately, winter does end. Extreme temperatures and environments are abated at some point. So, too, are the difficult times for the banking business. Oh, we still are overregulated. We still are stymied in many of the services we work hard to provide. However, bank closings have diminished to very few, and our image among customers has improved greatly from those difficult days of not so long ago. Loan demand has gone up, as has asset quality. We are better positioned as an industry, with stronger capital levels. While not at pre-recession levels, income performance has improved, too. Now we need to look to the future. While we are far from operating in a perfect environment in which to be a banker, it is time to look forward and determine what needs to be done to prevent, or respond to, the next winter of a recession. We must do this as an industry, and it will be incumbent upon the associations that represent you to assist your efforts. Bankers will need to decide what to do, and must prioritize those tasks. Some examples of what to do include defining what a bank is, so that our image can never again be tarnished by shadow banks and other nondepository institutions. Also, relieving the obvious overkill of regulation will be paramount, if banking is to survive in any form resembling what the United States historically has enjoyed. Additionally, we need to find ways to protect entities, such as the Federal Home Loan Bank System, that have been key to our survival. Thank you, Curt Everson, for reminding us that this, too, shall pass. Congratulations to all of you who have weathered this long, frigid winter. Now let’s all work together to accomplish what we must, so that there can never be another winter that damages us so badly. FEATURE President’s Ponderings S. Joe DeHaven, President & Chief Executive Officer, Indiana Bankers Association Amplify is a public relations and grassroots tool designed to help rebuild the image of banking. Developed by the American Bankers Association, Amplify is available to all bankers, both ABA members and nonmembers, free of charge. For more information, visit amplifybankers.com, or contact Erin Scheithe at 202-663-5436, email: escheithe@aba.com. Additionally, view a simple explanatory video available through Hoosier Banker Digital. For details, turn to page 16. t AmplifyYour Outreach Association, to all bankers, and nonmembers, For more amplifybankers.com, Erin Scheithe Additionally, simple
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