Northern New England BSA Pow Wow Held In Concord
Representatives of the NHBA and its sister organizations in Maine and Vermont met on Monday with regional representatives of the FDIC, OTS, OCC and the Federal Reserve to air concerns that BSA exams have taken on an unduly harsh tone. The meeting opened with a recitation of anecdotes which we said indicated that BSA exams were exceeding compliance guidelines set by law and regulation. The regulators responded that we had noticed a change in the tone of BSA exams because there has been one. It became clear that all of the agencies are being closely monitored, at Congress' insistence, to assure that they are applying BSA requirements in a tough, "zero-tolerance" manner. Even unintentional slip-ups... regardless of how minor they may be... must be written up and reported. Anyone interested in further details should either e-mail or call for a copy of our memo summarizing the meeting.
"Bankers have been complaining for months that there has been a disconnect between the reassurances from officials [in Washington] that anti-laundering rules would not be overzealously enforced and the actions of examiners in the field."
- Treasury Secretary John Snow, as quoted in the Monday 2/14/05 issue of American Banker. The article was titled "Getting Closer to Clarity on Laundering Compliance". In the article, Secretary Snow acknowledged that there are problems with the current BSA compliance process saying, "It is not simply complaints about the process. It is a system in chaos."
William F. Kidder
William F. Kidder died Wednesday at the age of 92 in the town where he was born, New London, NH. He was a founder of the New London Trust Company, served as president of the bank until 1984 and then continued as chairman of the Board until 1993. He represented New London in the NH House for 24 years, serving as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee for 10 of those years. Mr. Kidder was predeceased by one son, William F. Kidder, Jr., who followed him as president of New London Trust and died in 1998. Another son, David, is currently serving his first term in the NH House.
The Lynch Budget
Governor John Lynch has presented his plan to pay for state operations over the next two years. The good news for us, at this moment, is what he did not say. Although we did not take a hit in the last biennium, previous budgets were balanced by increasing business taxes. The NHBA previously commissioned a study which concluded that further increases in the BET or BPT would cause reductions in business activity that would actually reduce revenues. This week, Gov. Lynch kept the promise that his spending plan would not return increase business taxes. The question now becomes, will our legislators agree?
Bankruptcy Bill Moves
This afternoon at 1:30 p.m. the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved bankruptcy reform legislation with a 12-5 bi-partisan vote. Of nearly 80 amendments that were offered, only four were accepted, including three related to medical costs submitted by Sen. Edward Kennedy. It will now move to the Senate floor sometime after next week's Presidents' Day break, where a tougher fight is expected. The bill is nearly identical to the one that passed the House last year, and House leaders say they are prepared to move the bill as soon as the Senate acts. This could be the year of bankruptcy reform!
New Hampshire Bankers Association 122 North Main Street P.O. Box 2586 Concord, New Hampshire 03302-2586 For more information on above items: call (603) 224-5373, fax (603) 224-3381 or E-Mail jlittle@nhbankers.com. |
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