February 26, 2021

Despite political partisanship that has marked much of the 116th Congress in 2019 and 2020, there have been some notable exceptions with bipartisan outcomes. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 proved that cooperation is a possibility. That legislation, enacted in December 2019, made significant enhancements to tax-advantaged savings arrangements.

To understand how bankers will prioritize their digital strategies in light of the tumultuous year that was 2020, CSI — a leading provider of fintech and regtech solutions — polled banking executives from around the country, representing 272 financial institutions from across the asset-size spectrum. The data from this survey was then collected and used to create an executive report to help bankers gain insight into the industry’s hottest topics and strategies.

The fundamental duty of community bank directors and executive officers is to enhance shareholder value. One of the key tenets of enhancing shareholder value is providing actual common stock liquidity. In this regard, liquidity is defined as a shareholder’s ability to convert their shares to cash at a fair price in a timely manner. Unfortunately, many community bank stocks do not enjoy market liquidity. A community bank shareholder’s inability to convert their shares to cash at a fair price in a timely manner represents one of the biggest threats to the ability to maintain long-term community bank and holding company independence. If your community bank has adopted a strategy of long-term independence and your stock does not enjoy market liquidity, the following should be considered to provide for liquidity in the common stock.

We have been told repeatedly over the years that we need to manage compliance, just like all aspects of our business. This maxim is particularly true in today’s escalating compliance environment. There are so many new and changed rules that have been added to the mix over the past few years that we could easily be overwhelmed if we did not proactively manage the compliance process.

If my recent aggregate conversations with investment managers are an indication, there is still a lot of seat-of-the-pants decision-making going on out there when it comes to portfolio strategies. And I hasten to add this is not a criticism; it’s merely an observation. Why should we expect anything else?

2020 has mercifully ended, and I believe that everyone is anxious for some return to normalcy in 2021 as we hope to put Covid-19 in the rearview mirror some time soon. 2020 elections are complete, and as the dust settles on an overall crazy year, community bankers continue to do what they do – work hard to support their communities. With Covid-19 still in play, different parts of the country face a wide variety of landscapes with some states/regions being far more restrictive than others. Some bank lobbies are open, some are closed (again), and it is yet to be seen how the electoral change in the political landscape will affect things going forward. In addition to potentially new approaches to Covid-19, it is likely that tax policy, monetary policy, and fiscal policy will also be impacted in 2021.

When I consider what I love I get a clear visual: overlapping concentric circles with one common center. Each circle represents an element of your impact on communities, including people, culture, economic growth, personal and professional development, and more. But in the center of everything lies the human connection. Relationships — with your teams, customers and communities — sit at the very heart of all you do. This deep focus on the people behind the transaction is the secret sauce of community banking.