Turning the Page By Linda Navarro, President & Chief Executive Officer, Oregon Bankers Association The theme of the recent Oregon Bank Leadership Symposium—Turning the Page—is also an appropriate description of what is in store for OBA in 2024. There are many new regulatory and policy issues confronting our industry, and the Oregon Bankers Association is facing internal changes. I have no doubt that the talented leaders of our boards and peer groups, along with our dedicated team, are up to the challenge. Let’s start with how we have turned the page with leadership. At the annual meetings of the OBA and Community Banks of Oregon (CBO) in December, we elected new officers and directors. Congratulations to OBA Chair Ted Austin and CBO Chair Kate Salyers. These leaders, along with other officers, directors and peer group chairs recognized on pages 20–21 and 26, will guide us in the year ahead. I want to recognize and thank OBA Immediate Past Chair Joan Reukauf and CBO Immediate Past Chair Jeff Bailey for their steady hand throughout 2023. Joan and Jeff are outstanding people and bankers who gave us their time, leadership, expertise and voice. Thank you for making us a better association. Another page OBA will turn this year is the hiring of a new CEO. It is with immense gratitude and reflection that I will retire as CEO mid-year. On one hand, I cherish the experiences and celebrate the accomplishments of the past 27+ years. On the other hand, my time at OBA is just a fraction of our 119year history. It makes me confident and optimistic about the next era for OBA during which I am certain we will remain a powerful, collective Voice of Oregon Banking. From a policy perspective, we will turn several pages in 2024, some of which we’d rather rip out of the book. A good example is the implementation (subject to resolution of pending lawsuits) of Dodd-Frank Act Section 1071 requiring extensive small business lending data reporting and collection. Another fight on the horizon is the Fed’s proposed reduction in debit card interchange fees and the somewhat related bill in Congress to apply routing mandates on credit cards akin to the Durbin Amendment’s changes to debit card transactions. Then there is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s attack on legal fees and the products they support. I could go on for pages, as I can’t recall a time when so many different proposals and final rules were on our plates at one time. From implementing CRA reform to new capital rules to Dodd-Frank Act Section 1033 compliance, the list is long and costly. It is imperative that our entire industry work together to ease the burden and voice the impact of regulatory overreach on the customers and communities we serve. Just in the last few months I’m aware of two Oregonheadquartered community banks pulling back on specific consumer product lines due in part to regulatory burden and cost. The impact is real. As we navigate these pages, I also look forward to the story our industry and association will write in 2024. That story will include hundreds of millions of dollars in loans you will make to Oregon businesses and families, and it will include countless contributions you and your banks will make to nonprofit and community organizations throughout the state. Cheers to that story and to the year ahead. MESSAGE FROM THE OBA PRESIDENT Winter 2024 • BANKING MATTERS 5
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