BankersOnline Anniversary

Our anniversary celebration is being sponsored by ALLTEL Information Services
With 7,000 messages, the Bankers' Threads discussion board has proven it's the place to go for a timely, relevant information exchange among financial industry professionals. You'll find a wide range of emotions expressed there -- confusion, bewilderment, humor, frustration, anger (usually at some reg or statute), kindness, helpfulness, gratitude. Some of the posts have us nodding our heads in agreement and thinking "Been there, done that." Others make us howl with laughter, or smile appreciatively at helpful input.

There have been some threads or posts that have really stood out in the last year. We've gathered a few of these "priceless posts" to share with you here. On a couple, we couldn't resist creating an image to "capture the moment", as you'll see below.

But first, we'd like to take a moment to express our appreciation to the moderators of the various forums on Bankers' Threads. THANKS to:

Mary Beth Guard
Lucy Griffin
Barbara Hurst
Pegasus Educational Services (Ken Golliher, Jack Holzknecht, Laura Wilson Ponder)
Sam Ott
Dana Turner
Rick Wemmers

The undisputed KING of the message board is Andy Zavoina. With 600+ posts, he's demonstrated broad subject matter knowledge, a deep commitment to keeping the discussions going, boundless energy and a weird sleep cycle. We salute you! The user names of the top ten posters by frequency were:

Andy Zavoina
Lucy Griffin
Mary Beth Guard
John Burnett
David Dickinson
Leslie
Al Miller
Bonnie M
Richard Insley
Kathy LaFleur

Thanks to all of you!

see this thread
Favorite Compliance Mistakes thread.

An important lesson on smilies.

Talking about Lobby Security and posting the hours as 9 to 3, but requiring employees to actually open at 8:55 and close at 3:05:
Leslie: "Isn't it incredible the number of stupid ideas promulgated in the name of "customer service"? So now, instead of having a line outside the bank at 8:55 waiting for a 9:00 opening, the line will form at 8:50 waiting for a 8:55 opening!"

Charles: "I must admit...opening 5 minutes before the scheduled time is quite different, but talk about word of mouth advertising...something you "security geeks" could never understand. I imagine that this bank is a small community bank who has lost tons of market share over the years...and is finally waking up and smelling the coffee...'customers come first'"

A lively discussion about SSCRA and other issues following the terrorist attacks managed to get Susan G so riled up she vented in all caps:
Susan G: "JEEZZ PEOPLE! CASE, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT REPOSSESSING A SERVICEMANS CAR, WHEN HE COULD POSSIBLY BE GIVING UP HIS LIFE FOR YOU AND ME IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE. BUT BY GOD, LETS GET THAT CAR BACK!!!!!NO WONDER THEY CALL US CAPITALIST PIGS! YES I AM MAD, VERY MAD. IF WHAT HAPPENED IN NEW YORK IS NOT A WAKE UP CALL IN GETTING OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT, TELL ME WHAT IS!THE MONEY THAT FUNDED THESE ACTIONS CAME THRU THE FRONT DOOR JUST LIKE THE TERRORIST THEMSELVES AND WE AS A COMMUNITY OF BANKERS SHOULD FEEL RESPONSIBLE. SOMEBODY WAS ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL! THANKS FOR LETTING ME SOUND OFF, AND NOW I WILL GET TO WORK MAKING SURE NOBODY'S PRECIOUS PRIVACY GETS VIOLATED TODAY."

see this thread
In a thread discussing the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, looking for compliant sites:
Richard Insley: "So let's see.......

In three weeks we've indicted the White House, failed to locate a single bank that is covered & compliant and determined that Mickey Mouse MIGHT be compliant!"

In a thread talking about an error Bonnie Mizrahi noticed in the InfoSec exam procedures:
Andy Z: Bonnie, I believe the regulators read your earlier posts here, realized the error and corrected it because they knew how much it was bothering you.

Bonnie M: Yeah....I'd like to think that... but it's a terrible responsibility to wield such awesome power...

I'm sorry, you just caught me in the middle of a Walter Middy daydream..!!! LOL!

Mary Beth Guard asked "What's up with those little spy cams advertised in popup ads all over the Web?"
Ken Holmes: "I'll bet they're selling a gazillion of those things. Makes me wonder too just who's doing all the spying these days. Need we ask why the general public is getting so worked up about privacy over the last few months. It's not just fallout from GLB. It's cameras at traffic intersections and facial recognition software scanning the Super Bowl crowd. Now for the soapbox... we thought KYC was dead in response to public outcry. But it's resurrected in the new BSA/AML exam procedures under the guise of monitoring "high-risk" accounts for "suspicious" activity. What would your biggest commercial customers say/do/or think if they knew their bank may, first, identify them as associated with a trade or profession in which the federal government has said money laundering occurs, second, begin watching their cash transactions and funds transfers over periods of time for "suspicious" activity, and then, third, be able to ex parte file a detailed report with the federal government when the bank thought something was suspicious? Whew! It looks like there are two trains heading down the same track towards each other at full throttle with an imminent collision - - the public's interest in their own privacy and the government's so far unbridled desire to gather more and more information about us. I think I've had more moral reservations about implementing these AML procedures than anything else in my compliance career. Anyone else feel the same? There - I said it - I'm done. Thanks."

Andy Z responded: "Who knows what is being done with all those cameras. By the way, Mary Beth, you and Ken both look very nice today. Is that a new outfit. I haven't seen you in that before. Smile."

John Burnett: "Considering your propensity for going on-line and posting to BankersOnline in the wee hours of the morning, Andy, you'd better make sure there are none of those "spy" cameras in your home office. Those Snoopy PJs are just SO out of >

see this thread
Kathy LaFleur fills us in on what an outdoor kitchen is in connection with a loan request to build one:
Kathy LaFleur: "By the way, an "outdoor kitchen" in Louisiana (or at least in our part of the state), is a building away from the house that is used mainly to host a gathering. People can get together, cook, be a little rowdy and not worry about getting the main home dirty or whatever. (This apparently saves a lot of arguments between spouses.) Around here men like to get together to cook, have a few drinks, tell a few jokes, play cards and it can be done without distrupting the rest of the family."

Al Miller: "Be very careful if the borrower will occupy the car as their primary residence. :-) Thread link.

Jim Bedsole: "My wife would probably not be very happy if I bare with you, but I might just bear with you however." Thread link.

DN: "I was asked by a competing bank to accept a senior position, and one of my requirements was that they buy a new PC and allow me to use it. It had to get Board approval. Can you imagine standing in front of a Board of Directors justifying the purchase of a PC. We've come a long way baby, Are have we? " Thread link.

Andy Z: "HUD spelled backwards is still DUH." Thread link.

Bonnie M: "HMDA - the Reg that makes you go...'HMmmmm...duhhhhh'" Thread link.

Andy Z: "You've gotta respect those lawyers who moonlite as Wal-Mart cashiers." Thread link.

David Dickinson: "I think that a Fair Housing poster in my office is WAY over kill. Besides, it doesn't go well with my decor. :-)" Thread link.

bwest: "According to the low number of threads today there must not be too many of us bankers who have the honor of working on this holiday."Thread link. (It was Columbus Day, and apparently many were celebrating . . .)

Richard Insley: "I always enjoyed the lender who insisted that he didn't need to give rescission notices for a loan challenged by our alert discount clerks. Our second mortgage loan policy didn't apply, he concluded, because he was in 3rd lien position." Thread link.

Frodo: "I once called a Bank to ask what their rate was on a one year CD. The young lady who answered the phone said it was 8%. I then asked if the 8% she quoted me was the simple interest rate or the effective interest rate. She replied 'It's effective right now.'" Thread link.

Andy Z: "When I was still on the loan desk and creating new programs, we wanted to compare one to the signature loan companies in town. I called one and asked what their interest rate was. They didn't charge any interest I was told. They only charged loan fees." Thread link.

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