Bank Director Goes Monthly

The year was 1991. Banks were reeling from a credit crisis. Neil Bush, the son of a sitting president and a director of a failed savings and loan, was on the cover of the first issue of a magazine whose purpose was informing members of bank boards on “the serious business of being a bank director.” In a letter to readers from Bank Director‘s first editor, Tom Wood, he says: “In today’s banking environment, the uninformed director slows the growth of the bank and puts at risk his own net worth.” Some things don’t change. Now in its 25th year of publication, Bank Director magazine has seen periodic credit crises lead to hundreds of bank failures. In the wake of each crisis have come more regulations for banks. The magazine’s philosophy about the importance of an informed board remains no less critical today. But it’s not just personal liability that makes serving on a bank board a scary proposition. Regulators expect more these days from bank boards, both in terms of knowledge of the bank’s business and in providing a credible challenge to management. Bank Director magazine seeks to meet the challenge by increasing the amount and accessibility of information it provides. In contrast to many publications across the country, which are shrinking in size and in frequency, Bank Director is going the other way. We’re becoming a monthly publication. We will continue to publish a print magazine quarterly, just as we have for a quarter century, but will now publish eight additional issues per year available as an app for your tablet or mobile device. This first digital issue focuses on legal and compliance issues in banking. Subsequent issues will focus on topics such as attracting top talent and on compensation, growing the bank, serving on the audit or risk committees, handling governance, and overseeing technology. This new digital version is a downloadable app that takes full advantage of the interactivity enabled by mobile devices. We can embed videos, run slideshows, take polls of our readers, and open up additional windows of information through a touch on a screen. This is an exciting time for Bank Director as we continue to grow and provide information for the “serious business of being a bank director.”

To get the full interactive experience of the digital magazine, download the app today!