Title: Navigating banks: what today’s banking regulatory environment means for banks and their customers

Speaker: Bill Isaac, Chairman, Secura/Isaac Group

The Q&A discussion is expected to focus on topics relevant to CFOs such as monitoring your bank’s safety and soundness, how to best work with your banks, forecasts for the rest of 2023, and the risks CFOs should discuss with their Boards.

William "Bill" Isaac is Chairman of Secura/Isaac Group, a global advisory firm serving the financial services industry. Bill has an unparalleled career in the financial industry and public service, spanning over 50 years. He served as Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from 1978 through 1985, working to maintain stability during the banking and thrift crises of the 1980s, when over 3,000 banks and thrifts failed. He also served as Chairman of Fifth Third Bancorp. For more information on Bill's past and current work, visit securaisaac.com.

Presentation: Bill Isaac’s perspective on today’s banking environment will be followed by a Q&A.

The existing system of banking regulatory oversight in the US was developed over a long history based on responses to specific historical banking crises and has resulted in a fractured, complicated system of multiple banking regulators at state and federal levels. Having personally witnessed and dealt with over 50 years of these “band-aid” fixes and increasingly complicated regulatory system, Bill is hardly surprised by this year’s banking crisis. This crisis will undoubtedly lead to greater regulatory oversight and tougher stress testing regulations from regulators, and banks should prepare accordingly.

The meltdown of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has regional institutions, their customers, and their regulators concerned. Businesses and their financial officers should remember that they can and should raise any and all concerns about their deposits to their bankers as a first step—before turning to Twitter or other rumors and gossip mills for information. A good regional bank or community bank will offer customers many options to safeguard their assets. Importantly, small- and mid-size businesses should not feed into the misconception that their money is better off at a large bank—regional and community banks are an essential pillar of local economies, and they have a primary mission to serve all the needs of small- to mid-size customers in their local communities and regions.