category of under $250 million. Congratulations to Tom Swenson, MIB Board Member Danny Day, and the rest of the Bank of Montana team for gaining this prestigious acknowledgment — an honor well deserved. In this issue of the Community Banker, you will find all the information needed to attend MIB’s Annual Convention and Tradeshow. The convention will be held July 26–28 at the Big Sky Resort. We are excited about this year’s quality lineup of speakers. We are pleased to have new ICBA Chairman Derek Williams from the great state of Georgia join us as our keynote speaker. Other great speakers include Melanie Hall of the Montana Division of Banking, Patrick Barkey with the Bureau of Economic Research, and Tom Kennan of Keenan & Partners. The annual golf tournament will be held at the Big Sky Golf Course. And, of course, the ever-popular white water rafting trip will be available for those looking for a bit of extracurricular fun for themselves and their family. Our state convention is known as the biggest little banking convention in the West. We hope to see you, your bank employees, and your family below Lone Mountain this summer. Turning now to industry-related events, community bankers across the country were all hit with the news of the collapse of SVB and the associated receivership of the same by the FDIC. For those involved in Montana’s community banking industry, we were horrified to read the news that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appeared to take a position that the FDIC would guarantee deposits above the $250,000 threshold for deposits held in only those banks the Fed itself deemed to be systematically and economically important. Of course, Yellen’s remarks implicitly stated that bank deposits in Montana’s community banks, namely those deposited with MIB’s members, would not be treated the same as those in the too-big-to-fail institutions. And in turn, Montana’s community bankers would not get the same regulatory protections as SVB and its depositors received. In short, Secretary Yellen’s remarks demonstrate that the Fed appears to improperly and concerningly have a list of government-preferred banks. While Secretary Yellen appeared to walk back her comments later in the month, her initial comments once again highlighted the distinction between Montana’s state-chartered community banks and larger, more risky financial institutions. That distinction is, of course, that MIB’s member banks do not need government bailouts or favorable treatment for true community banks “operate under a safe, sound, and relationship-based banking model that has withstood economic cycles,” as ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey stated. Even so, we recognize that main street community banks will likely pick up the tab for SVB’s financial mismanagement through increased FDIC Deposit Insurance Assessment rates. And that is an outcome MIB strongly opposes. MIB will be traveling to Washington, D.C. during the second week of May as part of ICBA’s Capital Summit to speak with Montana’s congressional delegation. You can be assured that one message MIB will be carrying to our nation’s capital is that MIB member banks are not the problem but rather the solution. The SVB discussion reinforces the importance of MIB and the distinction between other state banking trade associations and us. This distinction is that MIB has one mission, and one mission alone — to represent the interests of Montana’s state-chartered community banks, period, and end of story. The membership dues paid by MIB member banks and associate members are the resources by which MIB carries out that simple yet vital mission. So, on behalf of the MIB Board of Directors and association staff, we look forward to serving YOUR unique Montana-based interests today, tomorrow, and well into the future. I hope you have a great spring and summer. I look forward to seeing you at the Big Sky Resort in July for great community banking fun. Sincerely, James Brown, Esq. So, on behalf of the MIB Board of Directors and association staff, we look forward to serving YOUR unique Montana-based interests today, tomorrow, and well into the future. mibonline.org 9
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