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Women in Banking Conference Going All Virtual on Thursday

Photo of women.The SDBA is going all virtual with its 2020 LEAD STRONG: Women in Banking Conference set for Thursday. In order to ensure the safety and well-being of our members, the decision was made to cancel the live portion of the conference but continue with the virtual component via Zoom. 

All registrations have automatically been converted to virtual, and those registered were emailed the links to join both the connection hour this evening and Thursday’s sessions. Sessions are also being recorded for viewing at your leisure. Those who had planned to attend live will receive their goodie boxes in the mail next week. 

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Kristina Schaefer to Serve on CFPB Community Bank Advisory Council

Photo of Kristina SchaeferThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week announced the appointment of new members to its Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC). SDBA Chair-Elect Kristina Schaefer, general counsel and chief risk officer with First Bank & Trust, Sioux Falls, was one of four newly-selected CBAC members.

Those appointed serve a two-year term and provide advice on how the CFPB’s policies and rulemakings affect community banks. Other newly-selected members are:

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How to Best Serve Your Employees and the Bank in a Pandemic Environment

COVID-19 has necessitated numerous new policies for executive management and HR managers to implement and oversee. Today, we are well into the pandemic environment, where community banks have successfully supported their customers and communities by facilitating PPP loans and by maintaining office operations despite challenging conditions. But how, as leaders, can you balance serving your employees' best interests with those of the bank in an unprecedented time such as this?

The Graduate School of Banking at Colorado will hold the panel discussion "How to Best Serve Your Employees & the Bank in a Pandemic Environment" at 2 p.m. CDT on Thursday, Sept. 24. Panelists are: Donna de St. Aubin, a consultant with St. Aubin, Haggerty & Associates, Inc. in Glenview, Ill.; Natalie Bartholomew, chief administrative officer/VP with Grand Savings Bank in Bentonville, Ark.; and Katie Wahlquist, chief administrative officer with Star Bank in Eden Prairie, Minn.

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Bankers: Urge Congress to Pass a Standalone PPP Forgiveness Bill

With Congress deadlocked on the next coronavirus relief bill—and with Congress only expected to be in session for three more weeks—the ABA is asking bankers to contact their lawmakers and urge them to pass a standalone bill that would streamline the forgiveness process for borrowers that received loans from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.

Bankers can log on to the ABA’s Secure American Opportunity grassroots platform and send a personalized message to their lawmaker asking them to pass S. 4117 and its House companion, H.R. 7777. The bipartisan bills would provide a streamlined forgiveness process for borrowers that received loans of $150,000 or less. Contact your lawmakers now .

Registration Open for NEXT STEP: SDBA Emerging Leaders Summit

Photo of emerging leaders. NEXT STEP: Emerging Leaders Summit is designed to help cultivate, connect, engage and empower South Dakota’s future bank leaders. This event will encourage emerging bank leaders to find and express their voices within their organizations, communities and the banking industry and provide opportunities to network and exchange ideas with other industry professionals. It will also increase emerging bank leaders’ knowledge of topics of interest to the banking industry and promote involvement and advocacy.

The SDBA is offering two registration options for this year’s NEXT STEP: Emerging Leaders Summit on Oct. 27-28. Join us live at the Hilton Garden Inn Sioux Falls Downtown or join virtually via Zoom from the comfort of your home or office. All sessions will be recorded for viewing at your leisure.

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Funny Money: Central Banking in Our Time

Money matters. Its purchasing power shapes the price system, the invisible hand guiding our decisions, professional and personal. Thus, for better or worse, central banking—aka, monetary policy—shapes our economic well-being more generally. 

As part of the Dykhouse Program Webinar Series in Macroeconomic Policy, Professor Joseph M. Santos of the Ness School of Management and Economics at South Dakota State University in Brookings will present the free webinar"Funny Money: Central Banking in Our Time" on Friday, Sept. 25, at 10:30 a.m. CDT. This webinar affords an accessible yet sufficiently rigorous introduction to the tactics, strategies and outcomes of contemporary monetary policy and how it shapes our lives, including how the Federal Reserve has responded to the macroeconomic consequences of the coronavirus and why. 

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Noem Outlines Framework for $400 Million in CARES Act Funding for Small Businesses

Gov. Kristi Noem yesterday laid out a framework for up to $400 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) to assist South Dakota’s small businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“South Dakota is in a good spot as we rebound from COVID-19, but some of our small businesses were still hurt by this pandemic,” said Gov. Noem. “These folks are the lifeblood of our communities and economy. When I asked folks to adjust their way of life to help us flatten the curve, South Dakotans exercised their personal responsibility and responded. That adjustment significantly impacted the day-to-day operations, customer traffic and supply chains of a number of small business owners across our state. It’s my hope that this proposal will help folks stay open and overcome the unprecedented times we’ve faced these last several months. I’m looking forward to discussing it with the Legislature.”

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SDBA Women in Banking Conference to Educate, Enlighten and Engage

Photo of women.

Don't miss out on three opportunities to take part in this year's SDBA LEAD STRONG: Women in Banking Conference set for Sept. 23-24. Join us live at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, join a watch party in Rapid City at the Mount Rushmore Society Room or join virtually via Zoom from the comfort of your home or office. All sessions will be recorded for viewing at your leisure.

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Register to Join #BanksNeverAskThat Anti-phishing Campaign

#BanksNeverAskThatBanks of all sizes are suffering significant monetary and reputational losses from increasingly-sophisticated phishing scams targeting their customers. We want to change that.


The ABA is calling on all banks across the country—members and nonmembers alike—to register for the #BanksNeverAskThat anti-phishing campaign—a fresh, bold, plug-and-play campaign created to educate consumers about phishing scams and how to thwart them.

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South Dakota Bankers Invited to Take Part in Virtual Washington Fly-in

Virtual Washington Fly-in Midwest RegionSouth Dakota bankers are invited to join bankers and industry leaders from across the Midwest for a virtual meeting with agency leadership and lawmakers. A Virtual Washington Fly-in for bankers in the Midwest Region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin) is set for Oct. 5, 6 and 8.

In partnership with the state bankers associations, the ABA is hosting this year’s Virtual Washington Fly-in to ensure policies crucial to the banking industry remain front and center and to provide a forum for critical questions from your bank. You will not want to miss out on this opportunity to speak directly to regulators about the need for commonsense policies and smart reform that will help America’s banks better serve their communities and grow the economy.

Monday, Oct. 5
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: ABA Federal Issues Briefing
1-2 p.m.: FDIC Briefing with Chair Jelena McWilliams



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Karl Adam Hired as New SDBA President

Karl AdamSDBA Chair Steve Bumann announced on Tuesday the hiring of Karl Adam as the 11th president of the SDBA.

Following his attainment of undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, Adam spent four years with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. Upon his and his wife, Joan’s, return to South Dakota, Adam spent three years working in business recruitment, development and financing at the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development in Pierre.  

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Timothy Koch to Retire from GSBC in 2021

Photo of Timothy KochThe Board of Trustees of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado (GSBC) announced Wednesday that Timothy Koch, president, will retire following the July 2021 annual school session.

"July 2021 will mark the end of an incredible era of community banking education led by Dr. Koch,” said GSBC Chair Mary Kay Bates, president and chief executive officer of Bank Midwest (Iowa). “His extraordinary leadership and vision for banker education has made GSBC what it is today; we are sad to see his time as GSBC’s leader come to an end, but are excited to see what the future holds for the school as well.

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U.S. Government Issues Warning on North Korea-Affiliated Hacker Group

Hackers associated with North Korea have resumed targeting banks worldwide to initiate fraudulent money transfers and ATM cashout schemes, according to an advisory yesterday from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Treasury Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Cyber Command. “The recent resurgence follows a lull in bank targeting since late 2019,” the advisory said.

The hacking team under control of North Korean intelligence, referred to as BeagleBoyz by the U.S. government, poses severe operational risk for individual banks beyond reputational harm and financial losses, the advisory said. BeagleBoyz perpetrated the notorious 2016 SWIFT compromise, and fraudulent ATM cashouts perpetrated by BeagleBoyz have affected more than 30 countries in a single incident.

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FHFA Delays GSE Refinance Fee to Dec. 1

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Tuesday delayed a 50-basis-point fee it had planned to start imposing on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinanced mortgages. Instead of taking effect Sept. 1, the fee will be imposed Dec. 1, and it will exempt refinance loans with balances of less than $125,000 to preserve refi accessibility for low-income borrowers.

ABA SVP Joseph Pigg described the delay as “an important step in the right direction,” adding that “we will continue to urge FHFA to carefully assess whether this fee, even delayed until December, could unnecessarily harm struggling homeowners and the broader economy.”

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FDIC's Money Smart News Offers Virtual Education Resources

In the latest issue of Money Smart News, the FDIC shared success stories from educators in adapting the Money Smart curriculum for virtual training sessions while continuing to meet community needs. The issue also includes COVID-19 resources for banks and consumers and new instructional videos released for Money Smart for Adults trainers. Read more.

SDBA to Hold New Accounts Seminar Virtually in October

The SDBA will hold the 2020 New Accounts Seminar as a three-part webinar series on Oct. 13, 14 and 15.

The webinar series will encompass opening personal, business, trust, and fiduciary accounts and is customized to South Dakota law. It provides answers to the most complicated and challenging questions asked by customers and employees. Day one agenda will cover opening personal and consumer accounts, day two will cover business accounts, and day three will cover trust and fiduciary accounts.

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SDBA Offering 2020 Bank Technology Conference Virtually

There is still time to register for the SDBA's Virtual Bank Technology Conference on Sept. 9-10. 

The conference is designed to provide support as you keep on top of technology trends and scams, navigate the business of banking, and build and sustain your bank’s technology strategy. Join host and emcee, Trent Fleming, as we discuss timely technology topics that can help you as you make decisions that impact your bank, your staff and your customers. 

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Banks to Receive Update Forms for 2021 South Dakota Bank Directory

The SDBA has again retained BLR – Business & Legal Resources, a division of Simplify Compliance LLC (“BLR”) to publish the 2021 South Dakota Bank Directory. BLR of Brentwood, Tenn., has an excellent reputation in directory publishing throughout the United States.

BLR will be emailing update forms for the 2021 South Dakota Bank Directory to all SDBA member banks next week. The purpose of this questionnaire is to obtain data about your bank--including correct address, telephone numbers, officers and directors. It is important that you respond promptly with the information requested by Sept. 23. If you assign this responsibility to someone else on your staff, please share the letter with them and forward the questionnaire to the appropriate person as soon as it arrives.

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Bipartisan Bill Would Extend COVID-19 Relief to USDA RA Borrowers

The ABA yesterday welcomed the bipartisan Rural Equal Aid Act, which would provide six months of payment relief for borrowers using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development loan programs. The bill—introduced by Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) in the House and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in the Senate—provides equal treatment for RD loans to that provided under the CARES Act for Small Business Administration borrowers.

“Banks are an important part of rural America, and the Rural Equal Aid Act will allow banks to better serve their customers in rural areas,” ABA said in a letter to Axne. “ABA has long supported USDA Rural Development lending programs and was very involved in the development of OneRD, which streamlines the loan making process within USDA Rural Development.” Read the letter

SDBA Provides Three Options for Attending Women in Banking Conference

Women in Banking PhotoWe don’t know about you, but we at the SDBA are COVID-ed out! Our yoga pants are worn out from working at home, we still haven’t mastered “new math,” and it’s the “freshman 15” all over again. Never have we needed each other more. Never have we needed a diversion more. Never have we needed some FUN more!

Join us Sept. 23-24, 2020, for Lead Strong: Women in Banking, which promises to educate, enlighten and engage. This year, we are providing three registration options. Join us live at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, join a watch party in Rapid City at the Mount Rushmore Society Room or join virtually via Zoom from the comfort of your home or office. All sessions will be recorded for viewing at your leisure.

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