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In This Issue
Being Frank
Regional Meeting alert
New IBANYS Member Bank!
Clear Dividing Lines
Magazine naming contest!
Quick Links

alert
CONTEST!

Submit name ideas for our new magazine (out in July) and you could WIN a REGISTRATION FOR CONVENTION 2012!!!

E-mail us ideas before
January 15th!
 




Reminder:

Community Bankers Forum

Monday, January 23, 2012

9:30a-12:30p

One State Street
New York, NY 10004 



The new year is bright with new ideas.   
IDEA
Send your newsletter suggestions today!
 
Inside IBANYS 

January 11, 2012

Being Frank: Another reason to be a Member - You and the "Trolls"

Net new membership growth in 2011 was 18%, the first year in many, and the New Year has started with a flurry of new memberships as well! Why, you might ask yourself, is this happening? We believe the tide is turning because Community Bankers in New York are seeing that IBANYS not only developed a Plan in 2011, but has begun to deliver value on our Mission via the new "Four Pillars".

 

Simply, as we have said many times over the last year...IBANYS is laser focused on protecting, promoting and preserving the best interests of Community Banks and Community Bankers. As the only Association in New York completely and singularly dedicated to Community banking, community bankers like you are joining because they know we are stronger and have more clout if we do this together. Your word of mouth combined with actually seeing the Plan become action is paying off, because now banks are calling us to become members as a result of all of our progress and outreach efforts.

 

However, now is not the time to rest on our laurels, because many of our brethren still have not heard the good news! That they don't have to go it alone! There are numerous issues you cannot take on alone and which we must act upon uniformly, together! And like the cost of government regulation and compliance, there are others who seek to prey upon our Community Banks because they know that many do not have the resources to fight the expensive battles needed to win the war.

 

One such issue at your door is the Patent Troll(s)* seeking to make you pay sub-licenses for ATM transactions, among other services. Some Community Banks in other states have capitulated based upon risk based cost benefit analysis. We know that some of our New York community banks have received letters like the attached and we also know that at least one bank is fighting back. Besides the attached letter we include a Decision of the Federal District Court in Delaware the subject of which is:

 

"Plaintiff Automated Transactions, LLC ("plaintiff") is the exclusive licensee of several patents directed to systems and methods for enabling a user to complete a retail transaction over the Internet via a combination Automated Teller Machine ("ATM" and Internet kiosk." (Civ. No. 06-043-SLR) (Now on Appeal).

 

Read the attached Letter and the Opinion and if you have received a similar letter, please let us know so that together we can determine how best to address this issue.

 

More on this subject in the near future!

 

*From Wikipedia - Patent troll is a pejorative term used for a person or company who buys and enforces patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered by the target or observers as unduly aggressive or opportunistic, often with no intention to further develop, manufacture or market the patented invention.

Regional Meetings set for Albany, Syracuse

      

IBANYS is proud to announce the agenda for our next two Regional Meetings, in Albany on Wednesday, February 8th, and in Syracuse on Wednesday, February 15th.      

 

The agenda for both meetings will be as follows:

 

8:30am - Continental breakfast and networking  

 

9:05-9:35am - Moving Forward, Four Pillars
Frank Capaldo, IBANYS President and CEO

 

9:40-10:40am- Social Media 101: For Senior Bank Management

Joe Russo, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Investor Relations, Alliance Bank   

 

10:45 - 11:30am-Round Table Discussion - Issues Affecting You
Moderator: TBA    

 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?  

Anyone wishing to discuss common, critical issues and topics affecting community banks...Presidents, CEOs, Senior Managers

 

We hope you can join us for these informative and FREE sessions. We will send out registration forms to all members this week. They will also be available at www.ibanys.net, in the Calendar of Events section.  

IBANYS welcomes new Member Bank!

 

IBANYS is proud to welcome Fulton Savings Bank as our newest member! With seven branches, this Fulton, New York based business has served the community for over 140 years!

 

President and CEO Mike Pollock says his bank strives to maintain its commitment to their consumers and community. They actively support local youth, educational, and other community organizations, as well as provide scholarship money for local graduating high school seniors.  

 

We are so glad to have Mike and his team joining us, as we stand together for the best interest of community bankers across New York State.  Welcome aboard Fulton Savings Bank!  

 

 From the Top

 Clear Dividing Lines

 

By Camden Fine, President and CEO of ICBA

  

Well, at least we know where they stand. Their views are on the record. The association that claims to represent banks of all sizes doesn't support tiered financial regulation. (I doubt the other half-dozen financial trade groups that represent Wall Street interests support proportional regulation either.)

 

Instead, citing practicality and "free-market fairness," this other icbaassociation feels it's necessary to subject community banks to the ill-fitting, one-size-fits-all regulatory straightjacket we've had to wear for decades. (Of course, we all know that when it comes to the too-big-to-fail firms there is nothing "free-market" or "fair" about them.)

 

To wit, in an American Banker op-ed in October titled "A Modern, Developed Economy Needs Banks of All Sizes," the CEO of this one-size-fits-all association opposed exemptions designed to shield community banks from regulations specifically aimed at big-bank and nonbank financial firms. "Washington policymakers must acknowledge the reality and genius of this well integrated economic ecosystem and renounce [emphasis added] the two-sizes-fits-all approach to bank regulation," he wrote.  

 

The op-ed singled out the Wall Street Reform Act's $10 billion-asset threshold exempting community banks from several of the law's provisions, ...    ....read the rest here.  


Magazine naming contest deadline nears!

The IBANYS magazine STILL does not yet have a name, so get your thinking caps on! We will be taking submissions for name ideas until January 15, 2012.   

 

In case you haven't heard, IBANYS is launching a new bi-monthly magazine in 2012. The first issue will be a special edition Convention Preview, slated for July-August 2012.  

 

We are so excited to present this new venture to our members, but we need your help!  

 

The person who comes up with the best name will win a FREE REGISTRATION to the IBANYS Annual Convention, September 9-11, 2011!! 

 

To submit your best ideas, e-mail us HERE!  

 

There is no limit to how many names you can submit! 

 

We will announce the winner of the contest on Wednesday, February 1st! 

Frank J. Capaldo              
President / CEO
  
Victoria Miller
Director of Administration & Membership

Erin Clark
Director of Communications, Marketing & Development

Dan Valente
Director of Government Relations
  
William Y. Crowell, III
Legislative Counsel