President's Letter
I am very excited and honored to begin my term as President of the Chesapeake Chapter. During the past year under the leadership of M. Jo Taylor, the chapter accomplished a lot - including the Gold designation for overall chapter performance from RMA National, two Gold Circle awards for innovative ideas, and the Chesapeake Clips newsletter continued its award winning run with a 3rd place finish in the National competition. Finally, Timothy Griffith, Annapolis Banking & Trust Company, won 2nd Place in RMA National Paper Writing Contest. I would also like to take the opportunity to welcome five new members to the Chesapeake Chapter Board of Governors: Christa Hemans, Provident Bank; Brian Slagle, K Bank; Vickie Tillman, Cambridge Capital LLC; David Miller, Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust, and Thad Ulrich, Annapolis Bank & Trust. They have already made a positive impact through their efforts and their participation. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the returning Board Members who have agreed to again lend their leadership, expertise and ideas to the Chapter. (For complete contact information and a full board listing, click here. Volunteer leaders are the key to our prior successes and, of course, to our future.Our fall programming has already begun and has been met with much enthusiasm. - Registrations for the locally developed Writing Workshop were sold out.
- We hosted a Banking Panel discussion moderated by Citizens National Bank President Glenn L. Wilson which featured Joseph J. Bouffard, The Patapsco Bank; Kevin G. Byrnes, Provident Bank; Alexander T. Mason, Mercantile Bankshares Corp.; and J. William "Bill" Knott, Wachovia Bank which looked at what's coming in 2005.
- The Chesapeake Chapter's own Young Financial Professionals hosted the 2005 Economic Outlook with Anirban Basu in November. Thank you to the YFP chairs, Brian Slagle and Thad Ulrich for arranging this event
- The chapter, in conjunction with TMA, will sponsor Ken Philbrick, Maryland Secretary of the Environment, for a discussion on the Brownfields program.
Many other events will be added to our schedule throughout the year. The Chapter publishes the Tuesday Update, which will be sent to you bi-weekly during the calendar year to keep you updated. The information will also appear on our website. We are always looking for new ideas for events, so please let me know if there is a program that you would like to see.Cheryl Dahut
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Banking in 2005
By Peter HicklingOn October 27, the Chesapeake Chapter hosted a luncheon and panel discussion at the BWI Holiday Inn that included a distinguished list of top executives from local and regional banks. The moderator for the program was Glenn L. Wilson, President/CEO of Citizens National Bank, a Chesapeake Chapter Board member and the current chair for RMA's Community Bank Council. The panel included Kevin G. Byrnes, President/COO, Provident Bank, Joseph J. Bouffard, President/CEO, The Patapsco Bank, J. William Knott, Regional President, Wachovia Bank, NA and Alexander T. Mason, Vice Chairman and Chief Risk Officer, Mercantile Bankshares. These gentlemen offered their views and insight on a variety of topics ranging from their outlook on the local economy, the rising interest rate environment and the impact of SARBOX compliance to different approaches their institutions take toward Risk Management. The discussion ended with each panelist sharing "words of wisdom" or "thoughts for the day" with the audience. One such thought that both included and transcended banking was to not hesitate asking questions at all levels to enhance your understanding of the subject at hand. Good advice for young and old bankers alike. The Chesapeake Chapter extends its thanks to Glenn Wilson and all the panelists for their participation and valuable commentary.
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Add RMA-CRC After Your Name
Introducing Credit Risk CertificationHave your knowledge and skills "validated" and get the recognition you deserve! RMA is proud to introduce the Credit Risk Certification Program. To take the RMA-CRC examination, you must have at least three years as a credit professional. You can also benefit from the rewards of earning your RMA-CRC if you have 5, 10, 15 or even 20 years or more as a lender, credit officer, credit analyst or credit risk manager. Benefits include: validates skills, sets you apart from other candidates for promotion, reflects your ongoing commitment for staying current, and reflects positively on your employer. It also helps you hire the candidates you're sure have the right knowledge and skills. Test Date Periods:
2005 March 1- April 29
2005 October 30 - November 30
2006 March 1-April 28 For more details visit the RMA website.M. Jo Taylor
SVP 1st Mariner Bank
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Young Financial Professionals
On November 17, 2004, the Chesapeake Chapter of RMA's Young Financial Professionals (YFP) presented a networking luncheon followed by an Economic Update by noted local economist Anirban Basu. Basu fittingly titled his presentation Bubbles, Bonds, and Barrels: The U.S. Economy Meets Resistance.Basu lived up to his billing by presenting an informative discussion of the national and local economy peppered with his signature wit. As anyone who has attended one of his presentations knows, he has the ability to make even the blandest economic data entertaining. Key points made were: the Maryland housing market continues to be strong (driven by job growth in the D.C. Metro Area); the lower dollar has spurred export activity; the GDP growth while not exorbitant remains relatively strong; unemployment in Maryland remains well below the U.S. average; and oil prices remain a concern. In summary, Basu's outlook for the 2005 economy is optimistic, but his estimates are a bit more conservative than the National Association of Business Economics Survey. Indicator | NABE Forecast | Basu | Real GDP
Unemployment
New Jobs
CPI | 3.7%
5.3%
220,000 jobs/month
2.3% | 3.1%
5.5%
90-140,000 jobs/month
2.6% |
The YFP group thanks those young professionals and the more seasoned RMA members who attended the event. We are confident those who attended found it entertaining and of value.  | | YFP attendees: (fr left): Louis Karko, Lance Johnson, Anirban Basu, Thad Ulrich, Brian Slagle |
The next YFP event is a joint networking event January 6, 2005 at Pusser's Landing in the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront from 5:30 to 8:30 PM with the Maryland Association of CPAs Young / New Financial Professionals Network. The Young Lawyers Section (YLS) of the MD State Bar Association have also been invited. Watch for details.We also wanted to remind everyone that if you are a young professional and interested in joining our email list for future events or know a young professional who would be interested, please contact Thad Ulrich by email or Brian Slagle by email.Thad Ulrich, Vice President
Annapolis Banking & Trust
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Operational Risk Is Recurring Theme at RMA's Annual Conference
RMA held its annual risk management conference in Anaheim, CA, October 16-19, 2004. Chapter members who attended included Glen Wilson, President/CEO, Kathy King, SVP, and Cheryl Dahut, AVP, from Citizens National Bank, Dan Herr, VP Mercantile, and Jo Taylor, SVP, 1st Mariner Bank. Featured speakers included: Don M. Wilson, III, CRO, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Susan Hudson-Wilson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Property and Portfolio Research, Inc., and Dr. Sung Won Sohn, EVP and Chief Economic Officer, Wells Fargo Bank. It should also be noted that Glen Wilson was the Moderator for the break-out session entitled Consumer Credit Risk Management. Some of the highlights from the speakers: Keynoter Don M. Wilson Centers on Risk Management
Don Wilson, II, CRO, JPMorgan Chase & Co., centered his address on the "what" and "how" of risk management at his firm. His firm's three "bulwark imperatives" are to "Know the Customer, Know the Risk and Portfolio Diversification." Incoming Chair Richard Harbaugh Touches on the Accord
Richard Harbaugh, a 30-year member, is RMA's incoming Chair and President/CEO of Equitable Federal Savings Bank in Grand Island, NE ($150 million institution). He touched on the new Accord which is expected to go into effect in the U.S. in 2008. He stated the Accord encourages banks to develop an internal risk-based approach to capital. In the U.S. only the largest 10 banks will have to comply with this advanced approach to setting capital; the rest will continue to have a minimum regulatory capital requirement of eight percent. Harbaugh further stated that although Basel will not have much of an impact on the community banks in the short term, they should begin to collect data that will allow them to improve their risk management. RMA has been and will continue to identify the best practices and communicate these through the chapters. Additionally, Harbaugh commented that community banks that take an enterprise-wide view of their risk will be able to: - Look beyond their loan portfolios and truly begin to understand their risk portfolios and appetite
- Better understand and mitigate new risks associated with outsourcing contracts and vendors
- More effectively hedge interest rate and liquidity risk as well as the overall market environment
- Fully address operational risk
Keynoter Susan Hudson-Wilson Addresses Commercial Real Estate
Founder and CEO of Property & Portfolio Research Inc., Susan Hudson-Wilson talked about the Economics and Demographics Driving Commercial Real Estate. She presented her information in the following Good New/Bad News ScenarioStuff to be happy about | Stuff to be crabby about | 144K jobs for August
Sustained retail sales (sort of)
High Productivity
Confidence at 100-ish
'04 2nd Q GDP Growth 2.8%
Service and Mfg Indexes above 50
4.0% employment cost index increase
House Price Gains holding (for now)
Low interest rates (still)
Low unemployment rate
Corporate profits solid
Giant Gap-Caps to Risk free spreads
Stock Equity Market Flat
Manufacturing losses halted
U claims down
Mortgage delinquencies trivial | 73K jobs for July
Consumer Fragile?
Stimulus flagging (tax cut, interest rates, money supply)
Deficit Rising
Net 1.0 million jobs lost in 2.5 years
Rising Inflation
4.0% employment cost index increase
High consumer debt level (no pay down)
Corporate behavior "disgusting" (still)
Energy prices as a tax
Madrid, "Peace" in Iraq? Quagmire?
Rummy, Election Risk (which way?) |
Additional conference highlights:
Weekend roundtable discussions focus on challenges facing the banking industry today, and provided the opportunity to discuss with peers how these challenges were being addressed; what works and what's not working.. Informational sessions, to name a few, included topics on Preventing Fraud in Commercial Real Estate (Nass-Drew), Pricing for Risk-Driving Profitability (Thomas Hannagan-Baker Hill), Allowance for Loan Losses (Scott C. Miller-Crowe) , Have We Learned From Past Mistakes?, How to Establish a Formal Risk Management Program in a Community Bank (Dave Keim-Susquehanna Bank) and Basel II: What Does It Mean? (Isaac-Gunderson).
 | | Attending RMA’s conference were (standing fr left) Cheryl Dahut, Kathy King; (seated fr left) Dan Herr, Jo Taylor, Glenn Wilson |
The annual conference provides the opportunity to enhance credit knowledge, discuss challenges facing the industry today, one-on-one with your peers, network with friends - old and new - and create a forum to keep up-to-date on the latest "hot-topics". Sponsoring vendors are also on-site to provide the most current software and/or technology available. We encourage you to mark your calendars for next year's annual conference to be held conveniently in Washington DC, October 9-11th, 2005, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Check RMA Headquarters web site for information: www.rmahq.org. Look forward to seeing you there!M. Jo Taylor
SVP 1st Mariner Bank
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RMA AudioConferences Deliver Value
Thousands of lending and credit risk management professionals can't be wrong! They took advantage of RMA's past audioconference series. The third series continues in January with a look at Real Estate Appraisals. Each audioconference runs only one hour during which you'll hear from some of the most respected names in our business. They will share their experiences on how to lend smarter and more productively. The Community Bank series has one last audio-conference on lending/credit issues before the holidays.Spring line-up includes:
1/11/05: Real Estate Appraisals
Hear from two chief appraisers and a regulator about the hot issues related to commercial real estate appraisals. 2/15/05: Loan Review Today
Hear from a panel of loan review managers about the latest trends in efficiently managing the loan review process. 3/15/05: Credit Scoring Today
Hear an expert panel explain the latest developments in the use of scorecards for origination and portfolio management. And especially for community banks: 12/7/04: Lending/Credit Issues for the Next 18 Months: Chief Credit Officers' Perspective
Three senior community bankers will discuss significant credit issues for community banks. 2/8/05: High Octane ALM: The Lending Division's Role
This session highlights the characteristics of high performing Asset/Liability Committees. 4/12/05: Best Practices in Lending and Credit Technology
Hear from an expert about what technologies are available to help make the lenders and credit officers more efficient. For more details, visit RMA's website. And make sure you check out details on web seminars and other educational opportunities.
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