TKG has had the distinct impression that the bank regulatory community is not pleased with certain limitations and exemptions from Section 171 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the section that covers leverage and risk-based capital requirements. Why do we think this? In a Consent Order dated August 20, 2014, issued by…
Why did Willie Sutton, famous bank robber from the 1920’s to 1950’s, rob banks? “Because that’s where the money is.” By the way, Sutton denied the quote, but we can’t deny it’s true. Financial Institutions (“FI”) remain the place to go for money, but not for long. Why do FIs…
The past five years have been filled with significant risk factors that have affected virtually every financial institution of all types, size, structure, and geography. We are well aware of the eight OCC risk categories: credit, interest rate, liquidity, price, strategic, reputation, IT/operational, and compliance. They have all been drilled…
The pressure is on for Community Banks to raise their skill in the development, delivery, analysis, and utilization of information. Think about what Enterprise Risk Management, Capital Planning, Compliance Management, Credit Oversight and/or any of the other myriad of recent initiatives have in common? They require thoughtful, well-organized, relevant information…
The past five years have been the most trying times in most current bankers’ careers. The economy continues to struggle through a long downturn. Interest rates remain at historical lows, depressing margins and crushing the profitability of the liability side of the balance sheet, as well as branch networks. Credit…
Most bankers would intuitively agree that information technology (IT) is a strategic function in the banking industry. It is increasingly important to interact with customers over the web and via mobile applications. The amount of technology needed to support even traditional banking functions like branching and lending is growing continuously. …
On November 1, 2011, The Kafafian Group (“TKG”) celebrated its 10 Year Anniversary as an independent company. But actually, our history goes back to the early 1980’s. TKG HISTORY The seeds of TKG were planted at First National State Bank of New Jersey (“FNSB”) in the late 1970’s. FNSB was…
I’ve often found these past two years extremely difficult. As consultants, we should try not to personalize engagements. But I can’t change the internal wiring. Last year, a client failed, and many more received regulatory orders. Memorandums of Understanding (“MOU”), Formal Agreements (“FA”), and Cease and Desist Orders (“C&D”) have…
On an annualized basis, TKG performs somewhere between 35 and 40 strategic plans. Most of these engagements are between the months of June and December. However, this year we completed almost a year’s worth of plans by June 30th. You may ask, WHY? The answer is the result of regulatory…
The last few years have certainly been a difficult time for the financial industry, as well as the United States and world economies. The sub-prime fiasco has been compared to the great depression and the final chapter of this story is yet to be written. History will eventually provide us…