Pre-Conference Peer Exchanges | Monday | October 25

Bank Audit and Risk Peer Exchanges
Bank Director hosts its popular peer exchanges the day prior to our annual Bank Audit & Risk Committees Conference. Small groups of experienced audit and risk committee members, as well as senior bank executives – along with outside advisors – meet in closed-door, off-the-record peer groups for candid discussions about various issues and challenges facing officers and directors today. Peer exchange groups are assigned by title (director vs. bank officer), bank type (public vs. private) and asset size. Be sure to register for this pre-conference add on! To view the peer exchange agenda, please click here.

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Networking Peer + Guest Reception
To cap off the day, we invite all participants – and their guests – to join us for refreshments and light hors d’oeuvres.

Conference Day One | Tuesday | October 26

7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
Breakfast + Registration

8:00 AM – 8:15 AM
Welcoming Remarks
Al Dominick, CEO, Bank Director

8:15 AM – 9:05 AM
The Biggest Issues Facing Banks Today
Steve Hovde
, Chairman & CEO, Hovde Group, LLC
This session focuses on the current banking economy, as well as industry trends, operating conditions and areas of potential opportunity for those banks attending this annual conference.

9:05 AM – 9:55 AM
What’s Happening in Washington That Impacts Your Bank
Michael Mancusi
, Partner, Arnold & Porter
Charles Yi
, Partner, Arnold & Porter
Moderated by: Robert Azarow, Partner, Arnold & Porter
The Biden Administration has already made many changes – and many expect more in the next few years. This session focuses on all of the newly announced regulatory and administrative changes as well as ones expected for the future.

9:55 AM – 10:10 AM
Refreshment Break

10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
5 Risks Every Board Should Talk About
Gary Bronstein
, Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
Peter Cherpack, EVP, Principal & Senior Director of Credit Technology, Ardmore Banking Advisors, Inc.
David Konrad, Analyst – U.S. Large Cap Banks, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, A Stifel Company
Moderated by: Al Dominick, CEO, Bank Director
There are a number of risks that banks have to face. From credit to strategy, market conditions to digital shifts, this session focuses on the top risks all bank boards and executive teams must talk about in the current environment.

11:10 AM – 12:00 PM
Breakout Sessions (select one)

Breakout I: Lessons from the Future
Kevin Brand
, Senior Manager, Crowe LLP
In 2020, banks learned that models and data cannot predict everything and that past events are not always indicative of future performance. Models must be flexible enough to prepare for the worst that could happen while keeping in mind that unusual events – like shifts in risk, forbearance and a country-wide stimulus package – can alter the outlook as well. This session offers advice learned from 2020 that is relevant to the director’s oversight role.

Breakout II: Preparing For A Cybersecurity Threat
Craig Sanders
, Partner, Moss Adams LLP
This session focuses on how to best prepare your bank for a cybersecurity attack – and how the board engages in this process.

Breakout III: From Annual Review to Active Review: Optimizing Your Portfolio Monitoring
Bryce Lugar, Solutions Strategist, OakNorth
Hugh Shannon, Director of Growth & Operations, OakNorth
There are thousands of banks across the US, including some of the country’s largest lenders, which are still using excel spreadsheets to do their annual review. It’s time for banks to bring this painstaking and time-intensive exercise into the 21st Century. In this session, we discuss how banks can move from an annual, backward-looking review, to an ongoing, active and forward-looking one, and in doing so, reduce the time and resource spent on the annual review by up to 50%.

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM
Networking Lunch
Sponsored by: Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP

1:15 PM – 2:05 PM
Breakout Sessions (select one)

Breakout I: Credit and Allowances: What Should You Know
Daryl Moore
, Chief Credit Executive, Senior EVP, Old National Bank
Mandi Simpson
, Partner, Crowe LLP
When will credit and the allowance level normalize to pre-pandemic levels? Analysts expect that Q2 and Q3 2021 will be important quarters for normalization activity – rising non-accruals, booking losses or releasing reserves. What should your bank be doing as Q3 closes out and year end is around the corner?

Breakout II: How Using Your Data Differently Cuts Your Risk
David Heneke
, Principal, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Erica Kottabi
, Principal, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Data…. One of the number one buzz words in the world today. Generally, it’s coupled with
analytics, security, management or such, but the bottom line is data is imperative to a business’s
success and leveraging it properly will not only unlock new potential, but will also minimize risk for an organization.

Breakout III: How the Pandemic Changed Concentration Management, Strategic Planning and M&A
Adam Mustafa
, President & CEO, Invictus Group
The post-pandemic environment will be a totally different ball game for community banks. The playbook of riding CRE and residential mortgages to drive growth and earnings isn’t going to work. Banks need to think about growth and earnings in totally different ways than ever before. This session discusses some of the newest trends, techniques and data being used by forward-thinking banks to better plan and anticipate opportunities for organic growth and identify acquisition targets that may have not made sense prior to the pandemic but now make the best targets.

2:05 PM – 2:25 PM
Refreshment Break

2:25 PM – 3:15 PM
Breakout Sessions (select one)

Breakout I: Cybersecurity Trends Driving Regulation in 2021
Joe Oleksak
, Partner, Plante Moran
While we’ve all heard of Business Email Compromise, phishing and ransomware, we often don’t realize the ramifications events like these have on our industry and organizations. Sometimes hackers hit us square in the eyes, while other times we feel the pain of blows from exams or when new guidance, changes to audit depth or scope, or new regulations hit us in the ribs. In this breakout session, we look at how hacking trends have permanently changed and continue to change the banking world, and what we as directors can do to help our IT department more effectively roll with the punches.

Breakout II: D&O (and Cyber) Liability Headwinds Facing the Boardroom
Dennis Gustafson, Partner
, Financial Products Practice Leader, AHT Insurance
The interception of COVID-19 and the hardening bank D&O and cyber markets has resulted in some very difficult conversations in the boardroom both with regards to coverage restrictions and pricing spikes. This interactive session reviews the recent trends and impacts of these market influences and shares the tangible steps you should take to combat these challenges.

Breakout III: Corporate Governance & Regulatory Oversight – 2021’s New Reality
Gayle Appelbaum
, Partner, McLagan
Greg Camarco
, Associate Partner, McLagan
As we assess 2021, we are confronted with a material increase in corporate governance expectations in the form of ESG – environmental, social & corporate governance, DEI – diversity, equity & inclusion and HCM – Human Capital Management. At the same time, with the change in administration, there is a clear expectation for a renewed focus on regulatory oversight including compensation. This session focuses on both corporate and regulatory governance and provides a road map to best practices and checklists for your firm.

3:25 PM – 3:40 PM
What Your Peers Think: Our 2021 Risk Report
Emily McCormick, Vice President of Research, Bank Director
Craig Sanders, Partner, Moss Adams LLP
Hear about the most noteworthy results from Bank Director’s 2021 Risk Survey.

3:40 PM – 4:30 PM
Getting Beyond the COVID Credit Tail
David Ruffin, Principal, IntelliCredit, A Division of QwickRate
Going forward, bankers must coordinate all of the tools in their arsenals (stress testing, portfolio analytics, loan review, etc.) to tackle the credit uncertainties residing with main street borrowers. From a credit risk management perspective, these are traditionally seen as separate disciplines – however, together, they are mutually informative and provide an efficient solution to staying ahead of emerging credit risk.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Networking Peer + Guest Reception
Sponsored by: Hovde Group, LLC

Conference Day Two | Wednesday | October 27

7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
Breakfast

8:00 AM – 8:15 AM
Day Two Welcome
Al Dominick
, CEO, Bank Director

8:15 AM – 9:05 AM
Making Sense Of Change
John Epperson, Managing Partner, Crowe LLP
Banks are supposed to plan for risks, but no officer or director could have imagined, let alone planned for, what happened in 2020. Now, with vaccines rolling out and businesses reopening, we talk about taking the best of the past year and building it into a business – all to better prepare for the next crisis.

9:15 AM – 10:05 AM
Breakout Sessions (select one)

Breakout I: Your Need-to-Knows About Enterprise Risk Management
Brian Nappi
, Managing Director, Crowe LLP
This session provides an overview of the maturity of enterprise risk management (ERM) in financial services, transformation of internal auditing for future expectations and the importance and value of having two highly performing ERM and internal audit teams collaborating to add value and input on strategic goals.

Breakout II: Not So Taxing: Year-End Tax Planning and Practical Insights for Audit and Risk Committees
David Henderson
, Tax Partner, Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
To successfully navigate audits and risk, it is critical for banks to include tax opportunities in their strategy. With tax reform looming, audit and risk committees need to be mindful of how tax credits, incentives and evolving regulations impact their approach to financial reporting and risk exposure.

Breakout III: Emerging Accounting Issues
Tim Eischeid
, Partner, BKD, LLP
Jason Rader,
National Industry Partner, BKD, LLP
This session highlights select accounting and reporting updates specific to the banking industry. The session also covers certain upcoming accounting standards, best practice observations from early adopters and other accounting updates affecting banks in today’s environment.

10:05 AM – 10:20 AM
Refreshment Break

10:20 AM – 11:10 AM
Breakout Sessions (select one)

Breakout I: Understanding the Risks and Rewards of Cannabis Banking
Keri Cain,
Director of Special Programs, Regent Bank
Mike Kennedy,
Co-Founder and Head of Product, Green Check Verified
Consider this – legal cannabis retail sales in the U.S. reached $18.4 billion in 2020, and the total economic impact of the industry exceeded $50 billion. With those figures projected to double in the next five years, it is critical financial institutions understand the industry, as well as the benefits and special compliances considerations around serving it. In this session, Regent Bank and Green Check Verified share a case study of how Regent is successfully serving this market, which includes a look at the elevated controls required to serve this high-risk, high-reward industry.

Breakout II: Strategies for Community Banks Facing the Hardening Commercial Insurance Market
Clay Dean, CEO, First Mid Insurance Group
Joshua Miller, CEO, The KeyState Companies
At commercial renewal, banks are facing higher premiums, higher deductibles and narrowing coverage. This session discusses the state of the market and options and strategies that banks can utilize to respond to the hardening commercial insurance market. Additionally, the session covers how many banks across the country have formed captive insurance companies and developed a more comprehensive approach to risk management, giving them more options at commercial renewal.

Breakout III: Stop Fires Before They Start: Distinguish Risks with an Integrated Governance, Risk & Compliance Approach
Sebastian Fazzino, Director, Sales Operations, ProfitStars, a Division of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.
Incidents and cyberattacks continue to plague the financial industry. With banking services more sophisticated and competing at fever pitch, technology solutions must remain secure and reliable. Audits and risk assessments can help stay ahead of the threats but often take a lower priority as navigating federal regulations and compliance can strain your FI’s resources. This session shows how to use your risk, security and governance, risk & compliance (GRC) building blocks to enhance your IT security program, manage your organization’s risk, compliance and business resiliency in a proactive, unified approach to avoid security breaches and findings in your next audit/exam.

11:20 AM – 12:10 PM
Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
Sue Loken
, SVP & CFO, State Bank of Cross Plains
Paul Ward
, SVP & Chief Risk Officer, Community Bank System, Inc. & Community Bank, NA
Moderated by: Naomi Snyder, Editor-in-Chief, Bank Director
The banking industry is emerging from the pandemic with loan portfolios largely intact and commercial customers more or less healthy. But significant risks remain. How do we think about risk in terms of credit, cyber, talent and digital change? We hear from banking leaders in this area: a senior executive from a $1.6 billion bank and a chief risk officer from a $15 billion bank traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

12:10 PM – 12:15 PM
Closing Remarks
Naomi Snyder, Editor-in-Chief, Bank Director