Notebook

Nebraska regulators pass peer review, director takes seat on FFIECNebraska's lead bank regulator praised professional peer review after the Conference of State Bank Supervisors re-accredited his department for a fourth five-year certification. "I don't know where else we could go to get this kind of feedback," said John Munn, director of the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance. "We're an examiner of financial institutions, and I think it's good for us to be examined.".CSBS re-accreditation required on-site examinations by a team of veteran state and federal regulators, which included former directors of banking from Texas and Colorado. The department also submits to annual evaluations in which CSBS tracks "where we're at in our examination schedules, that our staffing is still adequate, that our funding is appropriate for the supervision we need to provide," Munn said. "It's all focused on our bank supervision, as far as how we administer the function, how we handle our assessments and examination fees, how we train our personnel, how promptly we conduct and wrap up examinations." .Ray Pont, deputy director, leads the department's ongoing accreditation efforts, Munn said..Earlier this year, Munn was elected to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council to represent state regulators. The council was created by Congress in 1979 but included no voting position for state regulators until 2006, when Munn's predecessor, Massachusetts Commissioner of Banking Steven Antonakes, became the council's first voting state representative. As chair of the FFIEC's State Liaison Committee, which consists of banking commissioners as well as state credit union and savings bank supervisors, Munn joins Federal Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner, FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, OTS Director John Reich, OCC Chairman John Dugan and the recently confirmed National Credit Union Administration Chairman Michael Fryzel, as a full voting member of the council. .As in other corporate endeavors, community relations thrive when employees put some skin in the game. That's basically what Jim Badgero, assistant vice president and office manager at Ionia, Mich.-based Independent Bank, did when he offered to buzz his hair down to the scalp—but only if his teams at the Newaygo and Croton offices beat their fundraising goals for the American Cancer Society. The teams pledged to raise $2,500 for Newaygo County's Relay for Life, the Society's round-the-clock relay walk. By adding the contributions of the nearby White Cloud branch, the team went $700 over the top—and the top is now lighter for Badgero..About 20 people gathered in the bank after hours to see Badgero's 5-year-old son Brandon, crop dad's locks. "He was concentrating very hard on it; he didn't want to nick daddy," Badgero said. A bank customer who is also a retired barber furnished the clipper and observed Brandon's technique. Later, Brandon asked for a similar haircut in a show of solidarity with his dad. .Colleen Grimes, a regional marketing specialist at Independent Bank, said "participation in Relay for Life is a large part of the corporate culture at Independent Bank." Between corporate sponsorships and fundraising by associates in 14 communities, Independent Bank has raised more the $59,000 for the Society this year. .TCF dropping de novo for acquisition?Returning Chairman William Cooper said that Wayzata, Minn.-based TCF Financial has done very well with a "model for de novo expansion that's pretty clear in how we follow it and has excellent returns," but, "that may be changing now, particularly in the short run." .In a conference call on his first day back as CEO since retiring from that position in 2006, Cooper answered a question, saying "we may look at some of the acquisition stuff, particularly in Chicago…We'd like to have a bigger traditional bank network in Chicago." Cooper noted that "prices have come down, and because of the problems in the industry there are fewer buyers," perhaps making acquisitions more attractive even for a company that has "never been out of the de novo business.".Cooper prefaced his analysis by saying, "I'm not dropping any shoe, here; there's nothing on the table at this point.".Cooper is succeeding his successor Lynn Nagorske, who retired abruptly this summer. Cooper was chairman of TCF Financial Corporation's board when he was re-elected CEO in July; he had been TCF's CEO from 1985 to January 2006. .Kansas banker honoredKyle Russell, president of Verus Bank, N.A., in Derby, Kan., has been honored by the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado with its 21st annual James C. Scarboro Memorial Award, presented July 24. .Russell is a 1993 honors graduate of the school and served as a trustee and chair of the school's board of trustees. He is a 1985 graduate of Oklahoma State University. Kyle is president, chief financial officer and a member of the board at Verus Bank..The Scarboro award, named after one of the school's founders, is presented to a banker who has provided outstanding leadership to the banking community..Kids' savings account crosses 10k threshold The U.S. Bank office in Fairview Heights, Ill., recently opened the 10,000th Just US Kids savings account, and the bank celebrated by donating $5,000 to Junior Achievement of Mississippi Valley, in support of the organization's financial literacy training for youths. .Just US Kids is U.S. Bank's youth savings program, which was launched in 2006. Some locations now offer kid-friendly Just US Kids lobby zones, in addition to the savings program..Extras…∙ Dorothy Bridges, who announced her departure from Franklin Bank in Minneapolis (see August 1-14 edition of NorthWestern Financial Review), has landed a job as president of the $150 million City First Bank in Washington, D.C. Her last day at Franklin was August 8..∙ Bradley Meier, president and CEO of First Commercial Bank in Bloomington, Minn., has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado University in Boulder. Meier is an alum of the school, which has educated nearly 6,000 bankers since 1950..∙ First Federal Savings Bank of Baxter, Minn., has changed its name to RiverWood Bank, effective August 11. The decision to change the name was made in 2006 by the board of directors when First Federal Savings Bank, Baxter merged with First Federal Bank, Bemidji, explained Paul Means, chairman. "It was determined that a new name was needed in order to unify our 13 branches located in 11 communities throughout Minnesota.".The KleinBank office in Otsego, Minn., broke ground for a new facility on July 30. The 4,900-square-foot building is being constructed by HTG Architects of Eden Prairie, Minn. The "earth friendly" building will be designed to use water, energy and other materials efficiently and in an environmentally friendly way, said Mark Ethen, president of KleinBank in Otsego, Maple Grove, Big Lake and Coon Rapids..Robert O. Babcock has written a book called "You Don't Know Jack…or Jerry," which describes the founding of Jack Henry & Associates, the core processing software company utilized by many banks. Babcock said he completed his interviews for the book about a month before Jack Henry's death in April of 2007..The Minnesota Department of Commerce, under the direction of Commissioner Glenn Wilson, has published the fifth edition of a booklet called "Powers of Minnesota State Chartered Banks." This 14-page booklet outlines the many unique features of a Minnesota state charter. Copies are available at www.commerce.state.mn.us.