Pub. 16 2019 Issue 2

Issue 2 • 2019 5 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 N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S NMBA Year In Review By John S. Gulas T his will be my last letter and will be a short recap of my year as your president. My term ended on June 7, 2019 as I handed the gavel over to Jason Wyatt. The NMBA mission is “to serve member banks’ needs by acting as New Mexico banking’s representative to government, the public, and the industry; providing resources, education and information to enhance the opportunities for success in banking; promoting uni- ty within the industry on common issues; and seeking to improve the regulatory climate to the end that banks can profitably compete in the providing of financial and related products and services.” I believe we covered many of the mission’s goals this year. I introduced myself to you in my first article titled “Interview with the New NMBA President” shortly after taking office in June of 2018. Much has happened since then. One of the prin - cipal early accomplishments was a review of how the organi- zation was doing. The board, with the help of John Anderson, our Executive Vice President, reviewed plans to assure the safety and soundness of the organization with discussions on our financial well-being, our audits, our policies, our employee handbook and succession planning. This was an important exercise that yielded great discussions and resulted in plans and modifications to improve our organization. The NMBA represented the industry and the public by getting involved in numerous state and national discussions on regulatory improvements. On the national level we went to Washington, D.C. in March to join other bankers in discussing the status of S. 2155 implementation and the relief we could expect from some of the regulatory burden affecting commu - nity banks. We learned of a bill coming out of Congresswoman Watters committee to address the ability of banks to accept cash from the hemp industry. This bill could be beneficial in removing vast quantities of cash moving outside of the regu- lated banking industry. Hopefully more will come of this leg- islation. At the state level, it was a very busy sixty-day session with three key takeaways for banking: improved regulation on trust taxation, delay of a State Bank initiative until a feasibili- ty study could be completed and defeat of a Consumer Privacy Law similar to California’s Privacy Act. This act would have caused potential conflicts with the privacy regulations already existing in banking. On the profitability front, my article addressing compe - tition in banking addressed the impact of Fintech, credit unions and the state bank. As I mention above, the state bank is on hold for now but may still become a real concern in the near future. The threat of Fintech companies competing with banks has ebbed a little once it became clear that they would need to conform to bank regulations. Fintech can still be a tool that community banks can leverage to support their customers. Finally, credit unions continue to expand beyond their original charter and the ABA is weighing in to Congress about this issue as credit unions continue to buy banks and expand their reach into traditional banking without the same regulatory rigor. My favorite part of this past year was the statewide out- reach and travel that John Anderson and I did. This was re - capped in the New Mexico Bankers Digest Issue 4 2018-2019. The road trip proved to me the level of unity among bankers in their ongoing efforts to help dreams come true for our custom - ers in saving, buying a new home or car, paying for college or investing in a business. This unity was again apparent in our trip to Washington, D.C. and at our annual meeting in June of this year where we had exceptional speakers contribute to the continual education of our bankers. I truly enjoyed my time as your president, and I was moved by how I felt passing the gavel on to your next president. I have every confidence in Jason’s ability to keep our organiza - tion moving forward. Many of you are aware LANB merged with Enterprise Bank and Trust and I am no longer with the bank. As such my role with the NMBA also will end and I will miss the time I shared with each of the New Mexico banks and bankers. Take care and best wishes. n