Title: Graying of Compliance: Are Community Banks Ready for a Generational Change in the Compliance Shop?
Abstract: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] How do you explain the concept of a paper trail to the paperless generation? A veteran community bank compliance officer we know--let's call her Louise--is facing just that kind of challenge now. Over the Louise learned the compliance business from the ground she adapted as the job grew larger. In time, with Dodd-Frank adding so much more to her load, management gave Louise authorization to hire a No. 2. She found a smart young millennial. Louise isn't as young as she used to be, she can see that someday her new lieutenant could be the person to step up into her job. He's smart, he's getting the technical aspects of compliance. But he hates to write anything down. He isn't big on maintaining files of work papers. He resists too much process. He doesn't see the need to leave footprints that others can follow, should he be hit by the proverbial bus. other thing that worries Louise is that she, like many other compliance officers, has worked hard to build credibility for the compliance department recognition in her bank that it serves a valuable profit protection role. She worries that her associate lacks the skill set to sit in a meeting with senior management hold his own to maintain what practitioners today call compliance's seat at the table. She doesn't want to leave someday watch the ground she fought for given back. challenge of generational change affects many bank compliance officers, their banks, in different ways. Louise attended ABA's Regulatory Compliance Conference in June. I scanned the conference rooms, she says, and saw so many new faces. It made me realize that time is moving on, that we veterans keep having birthdays. A whole generation of compliance officer is beginning to pass out of banking, just as banks have been giving more thought to top management succession, consideration for compliance management succession ranks high, too. This comes at a time of major compliance challenges. I guarantee you, I've got an RV a fishing hole screaming my name in the next few years, says Chuck Lewis, a veteran compliance officer now vice-president, compliance services, for the Missouri Bankers Association. And so do a whole bunch of other seasoned compliance people. Selling bankers on compliance posts Bankers who have given compliance succession some thought identify four key areas to consider: the loss of experience; differences in work approaches; finding suitable candidates; the possibility of changing the bank's approach to compliance. But also lurking out there is a more basic recruitment challenge. a double hurdle. First, the industry needs to regain its attraction for new entrants. We're slowly coming back up, says Lewis. The industry has to find some sharp young people, make banking look sexy again, provide career paths for people in the compliance world. Second, compliance has to find a way to make compelling a position that requires a lot of very hard work, constant reeducation, has little popularity inside the bank. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Longtimer Paul Jarosz likes to joke that compliance work made him bald. He's senior vice-president director of government compliance at $452.4 million-assets Oxford Bank & Trust, Oak Brook, 111. The daily life of a compliance officer in a community bank is crazy, says Jarosz, who does a lot to try to humanize the function within his bank. You come in expect to review a document, by 4:00 p.m., you still haven't gotten near it. That's, in part, because of all the questions that come up throughout the day that have to be fielded. But the time factors facing compliance officers call for adaptability. It's sort of like living in a game of Tetris, says Jarosz. …
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-08-01
Language: en
Type: article
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