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December 31, 2004

2004 a Good Year for Members and GBA
This Bulletin is the final one you will receive this year, and we pause to reflect on the previous 12 months and find much to be thankful for.  We looked back at the last session of the General Assembly and were pleased with the results.  Thanks to some hard work by legislators, bankers and our lobbyists, only constructive legislation affecting our industry passed.  We could have gotten caught up in the payday lending, gift card or other punitive legislation, but we were able to point out the differences between banks and other lenders with positive results.  At the federal level, we saw a little progress made on addressing some of our ongoing issues, and the stage is set for these issues to begin moving once the new Congress is convened.  We have a big job ahead of us in trying to get Congress’ attention on the growing regulatory burden and the unfair competition from credit unions, but with our members’ help, we believe our views will be heard.  Most everyone is simply glad the elections are finally behind us and think it is time to move forward and let those elected begin to govern.  GBA will continue to play an active role at both the state and federal levels in support of industry concerns.  As for the industry, the Georgia economy improved throughout 2004 as we saw the industry as a whole return to record levels of profitability.  As we reported in April, Georgia banks outperformed their national peers in every category and that trend continued throughout 2004.  The bankers who lead GBA have done an outstanding job this year in ensuring the association is at the top of our game.  Our educational events attracted thousands of bankers, our political action committees raised over a hundred thousand dollars to support state and federal candidates, and the quality of our products and services such as our Insurance Trust continues to be without match.  All this is possible thanks to the outstanding support the Association enjoys from its membership statewide, and all of us involved with the GBA send our thanks for your support and best wishes for a successful and prosperous 2005.

Last Chance to Register
GBA’s 2005 Legislative Reception is an event not to be missed.  Registrations have been coming in strong and we expect the biggest crowd in years.  The event is slated for Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.  As the event will precede the Governor’s annual State of the State Address later that evening, we expect most legislators will stop by prior to heading back to the Capitol for the address.  This annual event dates back many decades, and with the leadership changes resulting from the November elections, it will be more important than ever for bankers to attend.  “We have a terrific grassroots network of bankers telling our story to legislators each year, and this event gives you a chance to visit your representatives in person to simply say ‘Thank you’ for their service,” said GBA President Joe Brannen.  Call GBA’s Susie McGehee at (404) 420-2010 with questions or to register.

Consumers Change Little as Rates Rise
Recently we have been sharing the results of a major survey conducted by the American Bankers Association about consumer attitudes related to their banking relationships.  This week’s question:  Will the slight increase in interest rates announced recently encourage you to …
 

Banks Win a Credit Union Ruling
The U.S. District Court with jurisdiction in the State of Utah has overturned a National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) ruling that would have allowed four of Utah’s largest credit unions to consider a six county area extending from Nevada to Wyoming as a “well-defined local community.” If you are not familiar with Utah’s geography, to put this in perspective, the area in question encompasses an area larger than the entire state of Maryland. Our colleagues at the Utah Bankers Association brought the action along with several local banks and the American Bankers Association. The judge in the case took NCUA to task by saying the NCUA “cannot act as a rubber stamp or a cheerleader for any application brought before it. This case is troubling because there is no indication in the record that the NCUA questioned any of the data.” When Congress changed the law in 1998 that dealt with traditional common bonds and approved community common bonds, Congress was clear in their intent that these community charters be “local.” The NCUA has a history of approving community charters that ignore the local restriction. “We are delighted that a court has finally forced NCUA to abide by the law,” said GBA Chairman Dan Blanton, President of Georgia Bank and Trust in Augusta. “There are many other examples of community charter expansions all over the country, including some here in Georgia, where NCUA has stretched the term ‘local’ beyond any reasonable person’s definition. We hope this ruling will be the first step in putting a stop to NCUA ignoring the law,” Dan concluded.

Chambliss Named Committee Chair
Congratulations go to U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss on his pending appointment as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist recently made this announcement and plans for the Senate Republicans to vote on the appointment when Congress convenes in January. A long time friend of agricultural interests in our state, Senator Chambliss will be stepping in at a critical time for both farmers and lenders alike since the level of spending will be a bigger concern than ever before in consideration of the federal crop subsidy programs. “The banking community is delighted to have Senator Chambliss as the new Chairman of such an important committee,” said Bill Twoomey with the Cook Community Bank in Adel and Chair of the GBA Agriculture Committee.  “We are fortunate that Senator Chambliss has such a history with Georgia’s agriculture community and look forward to working with him in his new capacity,” he added. In addition, Senator Chambliss will continue his important work with the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Gift Cards Under Attack
A number of our members offer gift cards to their customers and have found them to be popular for their convenience and economy. You may remember that during the 2004 session of the General Assembly legislation was introduced that would have had the effect of prohibiting dormancy fees. GBA worked with the legislature and the bill was amended to have the terms of the fees disclosed on the card. In a related matter, Attorneys General from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire have sued a shopping mall owner over its bank-issued gift card that has dormancy fees. The suit alleges the fees violate state law. The mall owner, Simon Property Group, was also sued by former Governor Roy Barnes seeking class action status for card purchasers. The Governor’s suit suggests the dormancy fees are inappropriate and that any unused balance on cards should revert to the state under the Unclaimed Property Act instead of being used by the card-issuer to cover their costs. We hear rumors of the gift card legislation being revisited during the 2005 legislative session, so this issue is far from resolved. Call GBA’s Elizabeth Chandler at (404) 420-2027 with questions.

Agencies Adopt Disposal Rules
The federal bank regulatory agencies have announced interagency final rules–mandated by the FACT Act passed in 2003–requiring financial institutions to adopt measures for properly disposing of consumer information derived from credit reports. The rule varies little from current law which already requires financial institutions to protect customer information by implementing information security programs. The final rules require institutions to make minor adjustments to their information security programs, including measures to properly dispose of “consumer information,” for which a new definition was also added. The final rules take effect on July 1, 2005.

FDIC Extends 363 Reporting Deadline
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced last month a delay for banks required to file management reports and auditor attestations on internal controls mandated by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  The FDIC announced recently that they were also allowing financial institutions subject to Part 363 of its regulations to take up to 120 days after the end of their fiscal years to submit both the management and independent auditor internal-control assessments required in their Part 363 annual reports. The agencies are still considering industry concerns about duplicative and redundant reporting for those banks required to report under either or both of these statutes.

Mark Your Calendar
The Financial Risk Management Conference is scheduled for March 10-11, 2005 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta. A block of rooms has been reserved until February 7, 2005 and reservations can be made directly with the hotel at (770) 953-4500. The Operations and Technology Conference is scheduled for March 24-25, 2005, also at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel. The hotel reservation cut-off date is February 25, 2005.  Both brochures will be mailed with the January Bulletins. Call GBA’s Marybeth Jones at (404) 420-2032 for details.

GBARS Welcomes New Member
GBA Retirement Services, Inc. is pleased to welcome to the Trust Georgia Trust Bank, Buford, Mike Allen, President. The programs offered through the GBA Master Pension and Profit Sharing Trust provide flexibility to meet the needs of any bank or associate member who may be looking to add or change their qualified retirement plan. The Master Trust provides high quality, affordable pension, profit sharing, and Section 401(k) programs for banks and associate members of all sizes. Please contact Mandy Richards at (404) 420-2025 for more information or help with your retirement plan design.

2004 Law Code Supplements Available
The 2003 Law Code Book Supplements are in!  The supplements contain the laws passed in the 2003 Legislative Session.  This year’s set includes the paper version and the CDROM.  These supplements compliment the 2002 Georgia Banking Laws and Commercial Code book.   If you are not currently on our standing order list and would like to receive a copy, please call GBA’s Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036 or Kenyetta Parks at (404) 420-2035.

Positive Cash Plus™
The largest lending opportunity for Georgia banks since the residential real estate mortgage
GBA has entered into a strategic partnership with FTRANS to bring Georgia banks a new commercial loan program that may be second only to residential real estate in lending potential.  FTRANS, an Atlanta-based financial service company whose largest investor is an affiliate of Synovus, provides outsourced management and credit guarantees on the operating assets of the business, enabling banks to make revolving commercial loans to small and mid-sized businesses with the certainty, simplicity, and safety of real estate lending.

Positive Cash Plus provides the bank with the opportunity of safely increasing its’ commercial lending while offering the bank’s client the advantages of outsourcing the burden and risk of granting trade credit.  The program is primarily designed for the nearly two million businesses in the United States each with sales to other businesses and governments of over $500,000 annually.  FTRANS estimates that there are more than 75,000 of these businesses in Georgia with a total lending opportunity exceeding $50 billion.

The Positive Cash Plus program provides the bank with an easy to use, online system that simplifies loan administration and makes the program very efficient to use.  The strength of collateral offered by Positive Cash Plus allows the bank to lend in situations where it might not have been able to otherwise, due to a lack of real estate or other collateral.  The alternative of outsourcing the loan itself creates a program that should work within the credit culture of every bank in Georgia.  For more information, please contact GBA’s Renee Valdez (404) 420-2036 or John Hayes, CEO of FTRANS, at (678) 268-4040.

GBA Job Bank
The Georgia Bankers Association offers free job posting resources for our member banks.  These listings can be viewed online or through our bi-weekly publication included in the GBA Bulletin.  Resume postings are also available.  For more information please contact GBA’s Renee Valdez (404) 420-2036 or Kenyetta Parks (404) 420-2035.

Join Our Email Distribution List
A bonus of getting the e-Bulletin is the number of links that are included, which is also a great way to keep your key employees informed of significant industry information, trends and events. With the upcoming session of the 2005 Georgia General Assembly, the GBA will begin sending to those on our email list the electronic version of both the Legislative Update and the LegisFAX to keep you apprised of the bills that the GBA is tracking on the industry's behalf. To be added to our email list for the e-Bulletin and e-Legislative Update, please send GBA's Lydia Thomas an email containing the name, company, and email address of each individual to be added.  In order to receive these electronic publications, your bank's email controls must be set to accept them.  Please contact your system administrator for more information.

Newsmakers:

Alpharetta - IronStone Bank
Neil Stevens has been named Georgia Area Executive and Mike Fulton Commercial Banking Executive.

Athens - Athens First Bank & Trust Company
Greg Dispain has joined the bank as Vice President and Senior Credit Officer and James Buckner as Vice President and Commercial Lender. John Fowler has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Bank Compliance Officer; Phil Bettendorf to Group Vice President, Chief Operations Officer; Mike Sale to Vice President, Branch Administrator; and Mid Ramsey and Marne Matthews to Executive Vice Presidents.

Atlanta - United Americas Bank
Norberto Sanchez and Luis Caceres have been appointed to the bank’s Board of Directors as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively.

Dublin - Morris State Bank
Ashlee Torpy has joined the bank as Assistant Vice President, Credit Analyst and Kimberly Ely has been promoted to Banking Officer.

Fayetteville - Southern Community Bank
Cindy Kelley and Vince Ottone have joined the bank as Vice Presidents, Commercial Lending.

Gainesville - Gainesville Bank & Trust
David Merritt has been elected to serve on the bank’s Board of Directors.

Lawrenceville - American United Bank
Congratulations to Glenn Thompson, CEO, and the officers, directors and staff on their recent opening.

Macon - New Southern Bank
Ed Campbell has joined the bank as Vice President, Human Resources.

Savannah - First Chatham Bank
Tiffany Ringle has joined the bank as Manager of the Hodgson Memorial Drive office and Paula T. Morris has been promoted to Vice President.

Savannah - First National Bank
Bryant Easterling has been promoted to Vice President of Mortgage Lending.

Savannah - The Savannah Bank
Toby Browne has joined the bank as a Mortgage Loan Officer.

Smyrna - Community Bank of the South
Phil Coleman has joined the bank as Operations Vice President.

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About the GBA  I  Professional Development  I  Government Relations  I  Services