Pub. 1 2021 Issue 4

In January of this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) declared war on its newest enemy: so-called “junk fees.” The Bureau put out a press release with a headline that cleverly read, “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Launches Initiative to Save Americans Billions in Junk Fees.”¹

This past month, discussions about inflation have been commonplace. People are offering opinions on what lies ahead, and the topic seems to be everywhere in the headlines.
Historical context is critical to understanding the current situation. Dropping back about 18 months, global economic issues included advanced countries having the most debt ever recorded in modern history, aging populations (one of several key demographic shifts), and the slowing of the European Union economy. The EU was hit hard due to the deceleration of their manufacturing giant, Germany. Manufacturing suffered because China slowed purchases of imports. In the United States, there exists an amazingly high amount of government debt, consumer debt, and business/corporate debt. Business debt was the highest on record a little over a year ago, 60% of which would be junk bond status if we had an economic disruption.

August WEDNESDAY, AUG 4, 2021  10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.The TRID Dirty Dozen: Navigating the Landmines WEDNESDAY, AUG 4, 2021  2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. New Accounts Series: Regulatory Alphabet for Deposit Accounts THURSDAY, AUG 5, 2021  2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Comparing Regulation E with Visa & MasterCard Rules FRIDAY, AUG 6, 2021  10 a.m. –

Region 1 Carroll County Trust Company – Ethon & Emily GoettingCommunity Bank of Pleasant Hill – Jasmine BrownBank Northwest – Malachi McBee (Not Pictured) Region 2 Exchange Bank of Nemo – Breanna GibbonsBank of Monticello – Zoe PorterThe Callaway Bank – Ashlyn JarmanAlliant Bank – Natasha Jenkins (Not Pictured) Region 3 Bank of Billings –

Businesses within the financial industry are among the safest and most secure companies in the world. They must be because they house and protect their clients’ most valuable assets. While physical bank robberies continue to decline, the financial industry has become the #1 target for cybercrimes. Criminals would rather use ransomware instead of a weapon, and for good reason. According to Forbes, half of all businesses will pay a ransom, with the average cost being nearly $112,000. That does not include financial and business losses from a ransomware or cyberattack downtime, which lasts about two weeks on average. For most banks and financial institutions, cybersecurity is already top of mind, and in reality, cybersecurity is critical.

The Cyber Threat Landscape is increasingly prominent in the news, represented by the major security breaches of SolarWinds and Colonial Gas. In recent years, the United States federal government has passed several bills relating to Cybersecurity. One of the most comprehensive actions was recently established in an executive order signed by President Biden May 12, 2021: “Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.”

No one wants to overspend on anything, especially IT. In fact, one of the first questions most organizations ask when they begin working with us is how much they should be spending on IT. Frustratingly, the simple answer is, “It depends.”

Has it really been a year already? It’s felt like 10 minutes … underwater, while being attacked by a shark as you watch the Chiefs in the 2021 Super Bowl. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic. Since then, community banks throughout Missouri and nationwide have adapted to working remotely, scrambled to fund billions of dollars of loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and modified terms on thousands of loans to help our struggling community members and address shrinking margins brought on by incredibly low-interest rates. Missouri community banks tackled these challenges while we were helping our children learn remotely, eating room temperature carry out, figuring out the mute button on Zoom calls, and just hoping our new COVID puppies wouldn’t bark during weekly check-in calls. Notice I didn’t even mention navigating all of this during an election year. All of that to say … WHAT. A. YEAR!

And now for something completely different. Except it’s not; it just hasn’t been around for a number of years. But it most assuredly has an impact on your community bank’s bond portfolio and on the securities you’ll be thinking about purchasing the next time you’re in the market.