Fora

Surfing for banking fora (the plural form of "forum") can be fun and rewarding! Several WWW sites of interest to compliance pros now offer various discussion facilities. Offerings range from e-mail networks to bulletin boards to realtime "chat" rooms, but the "threaded discussion" is most common. In addition, there are numerous "newsgroups" with useful discussions of general interest.

No one knows the value of peer discussions better than the compliance professional. At most banks, the position is not full time, so the lonely compliance officer can't "talk shop" without picking up the phone or going to expensive conferences in distant cities. To plug into peer networks, all you have to do is locate these discussion groups, register as a user (generally for free) and then dive into the discussion. Unlike newsgroups where "newbies" are "flamed" by experienced users, banking discussion groups politely endure even the most basic questions.

HUD's "Town Hall" hosts a variety of discussions of topics related to housing. Topics change, so check from time to time to see what's under discussion. The National Fair Housing Advocate Discussion Forum (http://38.240.227.2:80/discuss) is hosted by the Fair Housing Council of Louisville, Kentucky and is an active discussion by housing activists.

BAI (http://www.bai.org) and a few of the state bankers associations offer bulletin boards, but the best stop on the net is The Money Page (http://www.moneypage.com). Most chat rooms or bulletin boards generate too little interest to be interesting-not enough participants to keep things moving. Money Page's Regulatory Compliance Forum has been running for over a year and attracts bank compliance pros from everywhere. Recently, Money Page added a new forum for discussion of the "year 2000 problem." As you find good bulletin boards, bookmark them and return often. Remember, you have to play to win. If no one asks a question and everyone else is too bashful to answer, no value is created.

Copyright © 1997 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 2, No. 7, 6/97