Spring IRA Update Seminar to be Held on March 14

The 2023 SDBA Spring IRA Update Seminar will be held at the Hyatt Place South in Sioux Falls, S.D., on March 14. The IRA Update builds on your knowledge of IRA basics to address some of the more complex IRA issues your financial organization may handle. This course includes how the transitions rules work, RMDs and death distributions. We will also discuss amending documents. This is a specialty session; some previous IRA knowledge is assumed. The instructor uses real-world exercises to help participants apply information to job-related situations.  

Who Should Attend?

• IRA administrators, personal bankers, or member services personnel who have a working knowledge of basic IRA operations and wish to expand their expertise and provide enhanced customer service;
• A financial professional who recognizes that IRAs play an integral role in retirement planning;
• A compliance specialist with procedural oversight of IRA policies and practices; or
• Support personnel responsible for promotional materials that describe the services provided by your financial organization.

Course Highlights

1. Death distribution options: How SECURE changed some of the options but how we still use some of the old beneficiary options
2. Creating inherited IRA accounts
3. Reporting to IRS in the “year of death” and then “year after death”
4. When and how to use the “W-4R” in 2023 and what happens to the “W-4P”
5. Review RMD rules and characteristics
6. Getting ready for year end and what happens in January: Fair Market Statements, RMD Notices and 1099-Rs
7. Life expectancy tables for 2023 RMD calculations and inherited IRA RMD calculations change
8. Amendment and plan agreement update
9. RMD age now 73
10. Legislative update – SECURE 2.0 updates

Seminar Presenter

Matthew Dickinson has been working with IRAs for 19 years. Matthew not only instructs, but he listens and responds to special needs and involves his audience in an effective group learning experience. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions or share concerns throughout the program.

Find more details and register here.  

Crawl, Walk, Run Toward a Compliant Cannabis Banking Program

Montana Bankers Association is hosting a FREE two-hour webinar on March 8, 2023. 

The U.S. cannabis market is expected to continue its growth in 2023 with projected sales of $72 billion per year by 2030, more than double the current market estimation of $32 billion annually. Although 21 states and the District of Columbia allow adult-use cannabis, ongoing conflict with federal law on cannabis – on top of a complex regulatory landscape – has left much of this industry unbanked.

Montana, which launched its adult-use cannabis program in January 2021, reported over $200 million in sales in the first year. Providing financial services to this market can help banks find new growth with low-cost deposits, new lending opportunities, and non-interest income revenue streams. 

Taking a crawl, walk, run approach to cannabis banking can help ensure banks are in the best possible position to build a strong foundation, scale their programs while managing costs, and pass compliance exams. This event will help bankers understand what is involved at each step of the process.

Specifically, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how to:

• Identify and mitigate risk.
• Develop a financial model to understand the income/costs of this line of business and its potential profitability.
• Create a cost structure that allows them to remain competitive as competition grows.
• Institute best practices for ensuring compliance and business development teams operate in lockstep with one another.

Webinar Presenter

Tony Repanich, President and Chief Executive Officer, Shield Compliance
As president and CEO of Shield Compliance, Tony leads day-to-day operations and serves as the company’s principal product architect. Having served as a senior executive at a Washington state-based community bank for over 20 years, Tony has in-depth knowledge of the banking industry and banking requirements for high-risk industries. Today he brings that knowledge to financial institutions serving and considering serving the legal cannabis industry.

Who Should Attend?

• Chief Banking Officer
• Chief Lending Officer
• Chief Operating Officer
• Chief Financial Officer
• Chief Executive Officer
• Board of Directors
• Compliance, Risk, and BSA/AML Officers
• Business Development Teams

Click here for more information and to register.

Breaking into Banking 101: Fundamentals of Commercial Banking to be Held on February 23

SDBA Offers Scholarships to South Dakota Students Through Member Banks

In support of the South Dakota Bankers Foundation's re-defined mission statement "Developing South Dakota Banking Industry Professionals," the scholarship programming offered through the Foundation has been redesigned. The Foundation has created a scholarship opportunity that will more directly help to build and sustain South Dakota’s banking workforce. 

Scholarship Request Form

The parameters of this new opportunity are:

1. Scholarships:

• Banks must select a South Dakota college sophomore, junior, senior or grad student or second year South Dakota technical college student seeking employment in a banking/financial services organization. If you need help in finding a student to award a scholarship to, please contact the SDBA at [email protected]. 
• Once student(s) is/are selected, the bank will notify the Foundation of the recipient’s name and school. The Foundation will cut the check to the appropriate educational institution on behalf of the selected student(s). The scholarship request form can be found here.
• Students can be pursuing areas such as finance, business, IT, HR, marketing, etc. as long as their intent is to pursue a career in the banking industry.
• Organizational interns are eligible to receive a scholarship.
• If a bank chooses to award a scholarship to a bank employee or child of an employee, this must first be approved by the Foundation Board.

2. Scholarship recipients will be required to sign a release form allowing the Foundation to use their name/likeness.
3. The $4,000 may be split and awarded to multiple students.
4. No match is required.
5. If total applications exceed available funds, awards will be prorated to service as many member banks as possible.

For more information on South Dakota Bankers Foundation scholarships, contact Foundation Executive Director Halley Lee.

Deadline Approaching to Apply for GSBC's Annual School Session

After two consecutive sellout sessions, GSBC's 72nd Annual School Session is following suit and filling up quickly! GSBC projects the session will be full by March. Don't wait to apply; secure your spot now! 

GSBC’s curriculum transforms community bankers into community bank leaders by:

• Providing the essentials from which a solid education is built
• Building leaders who make differences in their banks and communities
• Fostering readiness by providing the tools to think critically and act innovatively 

Admission Requirements

First Year Students:

Applicants must meet the following qualifications to be admitted to the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado (GSBC) Annual School Session:

• Be employed by a taxable, FDIC-insured financial institution, its holding company, regulatory agency or closely related affiliate.
• Obtain approval from a direct supervisor.
• Possess a minimum of three years of experience in the banking industry or closely related field.
• Possess a Bachelor’s degree or compensating experience.

Second Year Direct Students:

Applicants who meet the above criteria may also qualify to be admitted as a Second Year Direct student if they hold Bachelor’s Degree plus a diploma (within the past five years) from one the approved banking schools.

The Super Bowl and Human Trafficking: How Financial Institutions can Help

The upcoming Super Bowl usually brings to mind rivalry and camaraderie. But for financial institutions and law enforcement, large sports gatherings mean it’s time to go on high alert for human trafficking. Financial institutions of all sizes play a pivotal role in detecting and reporting suspicious activity related to human smuggling and human trafficking.

Exploitative practices

What is human trafficking?

Human trafficking is a crime in which force, fraud, or coercion is used to compel a person to perform labor, services or commercial sex. Sadly, there can be an uptick in this practice in areas where large events take place. Any influx of people from all over the world—including the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics, and various other sporting events—requires hiring hundreds of temporary workers for building and staffing events. The increased labor opportunity can open the door for human trafficking.

According to data compiled by the Institute for Sport and Social Justice's "Shut Out Trafficking" program, there's consistently a spike in reported incidents in the U.S. around January and February (when the Super Bowl occurs). In January 2019, there were approximately 450 reported incidents, with a jump to about 540 in February. It dropped down to 140 incidents in March 2019.

The U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking reported that the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami saw a 163% increase in human trafficking reports to the national hotline over the course of the event. The good news is that 47 traffickers were arrested, and 22 victims were found and assisted. The 2021 Super Bowl in Tampa saw 146 arrests made, six victims recovered, and 18 missing children identified. Now, human trafficking is a focus of the upcoming Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.

With increased demand for manual labor, sex for hire and other services around major sporting events, the Super Bowl should put financial institutions on high alert. Aristides Jimenez, retired Deputy Agent in Charge at DHS, reported that “stables,” groups of trafficked victims who are under the control of a single pimp, travel from all major cities to the host site due to the demand being so high. And while the word "trafficking" implies that victims are being transported from a great distance, some are "stabled" close by in their own neighborhoods, or even enslaved by family members.

FinCEN has issued an updated advisory on identifying and reporting human trafficking, supplementing its 2014 guidance. Together with law enforcement, FinCEN has identified these financial and behavioral red flags of human trafficking.

Warning signs

Behavioral indicators and transactional red flags

Many behavioral red flags for human trafficking include the presence of a third party, where this person may:

Speak on behalf of the customerInsist on being present throughout the transactionAttempt to fill out paperwork without discussing it with the customer firstKeep possession of all of the documents or fundsClaim to be related to the customer (but may lack knowledge of the customer’s important details)Attempt to open an account for a person not presentTry to open an account for an unqualified minorAct aggressive or intimidating toward the customer
Additionally, signs that you might be dealing with a human trafficking victim or perpetrator include when the customer may:

Present poor hygiene, malnourishment, or fatigue, or show signs of abuse, physical restraint, or tortureNot know where they are or live, or have inconsistent storiesExhibit abnormal business payroll expendituresHave non-existent or meager payroll costs for the size of the customer’s alleged line of businessDeduct large amounts from employees’ wages (e.g., housing, food costs)Cash payroll checks where most of the funds are kept by the employer or deposited into the employer’s accountShow payments to employment or student recruitment agencies that are not licensed or have labor violations.

Report and assist

Supporting human trafficking victims

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, working in the financial industry provides you the opportunity to report suspicious behavior involving 92% of the various types of human trafficking. When you encounter transactions that just don’t feel right, don’t hesitate to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and call the National Human Trafficking hotline at 888-373-7888.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of potential human trafficking transactions you find, knowing the abuse that lies behind these transactions. The good news is there are data scientists designing ways to detect these patterns without human intervention. Financial institutions with BSA software that incorporates an AML AI solution will be empowered to find data that can free victims faster.

In the meantime, remind front-line staff to trust their gut and be on the lookout for red flags of human trafficking. Banks can help by supporting an organization like Love Never Fails or the Texas Advocacy Project. These organizations support victims of human trafficking by providing housing, counseling, legal help, and professional training.

Find the original article here.

Hacker Hour: Responding to Common Cyber Incidents

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Q: For the auto loan exception in the Military Lending Act (MLA), does it matter whether the auto being purchased is new or used?

A: No, this is not one of the requirements for the exception. The exception generally applies to transactions that are "expressly intended to finance the purchase of a motor vehicle when the credit is secured by the vehicle being purchased." In other words, the exception does not specifically require that the auto be either new or used:

“…(1) Consumer credit means credit offered or extended to a covered borrower primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and that is:
(i) Subject to a finance charge; or
(ii) Payable by a written agreement in more than four installments.
(2) Exceptions. Notwithstanding paragraph (f)(1) of this section, consumer credit does not mean:
…
(ii) Any credit transaction that is expressly intended to finance the purchase of a motor vehicle when the credit is secured by the vehicle being purchased;…”

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-A/chapter-I/subchapter-M/part-232#p-232.3(f)

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