To our valued clients and friends, 
  

This fall marks the third anniversary of the beginning of the financial crisis. This makes now a good time to go back and, with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, examine the lessons from the crisis. Our lead article in this issue identifies eight lessons that bankers can learn - or in some cases, re-learn - to help prevent a similar crisis from happening again.

Last summer, FASB issued proposed new standards for lease accounting that, if and when they are adopted, will result in major changes in the way that virtually all leases are accounted for under U.S. GAAP. In particular, these changes will have a significant impact on the financial statements submitted by many of your business borrowers. See article 3 to learn about what these changes might mean from your perspective as a small business lender.

You probably receive financial information from borrowers in literally all shapes and sizes. However, reviewed and compiled financial statements generally don't include an audit committee letter, though they might include a management letter. Our second article explains why, if you're not receiving these letters with your borrowers' financial statements, you should dig deeper into the statements to uncover important details about the company's financial condition.

We hope that you find this issue of Financial Lending Notes to be helpful and beneficial to your company. If you would like more information on any of the topics mentioned here, we would be glad to discuss them with you in more detail.  

Sincerely,

Tom Beisner, CPA, Partner