In This Issue

• Emerging Banking Leaders Don't Miss Out on SDBA Networking Meetings
  
• 2018 South Dakota Bank Directory Advertising Available
• ABA to D.C. Opinion Leaders: 'Unleash America's Potential'
• SBA Seeks Temporary Loan Processors for Harvey Relief
  
• Article Explores How Lessons of Katrina Made Banks More Resilient
• Federal Judge Invalidates Obama-Era Rule on Overtime Pay

Emerging Banking Leaders Don't Miss Out on SDBA Networking Meetings

The SDBA is looking to attract, develop and engage the next generation of banking leaders in the state. The SDBA is hosting four Emerging Leaders Networking Meetings across the state this fall.

• Sturgis, Buffalo Chip Shooting Complex: Sept. 28
• Aberdeen, Aberdeen Gun Club: Oct. 2
• Humboldt, Hunters Pointe Shooting Complex: Oct: 4
• Pierre/Fort Pierre, View 34 and Willow Creek Wildlife Inc.: Oct. 11

A general business session from 10 a.m. to noon will be a chance for bankers to learn more about the SDBA, current issues of concern to the industry, how they can engage in public policy debate, and a discussion on ideas for further engagement with emerging industry leaders. The meetings will also provide an opportunity for networking and social interaction with peers during lunch, an afternoon of optional sporting clays/trap shooting and refreshments to follow. 

Come and learn what the SDBA is all about and how you can get involved. Learn more and register.

2018 South Dakota Bank Directory Advertising Available

The SDBA is currently selling advertising in its 2018 South Dakota Bank Directory. The South Dakota Bank Directory is an indispensable reference tool for financial executives and those conducting business with financial decision makers in South Dakota.

A limited number of full-color ads are available on the directory's tabbed divider pages, as well as the inside back cover. Full-page and half-page black and white ads are also available in the front section of the directory. The deadline to place an ad is Friday, Sept. 29. Ads are then due Oct. 13. More information and the advertising form.

All SDBA member banks, branches and associate members will receive a complimentary 2018 South Dakota Bank Directory in early January. Additional copies will be available for purchase. Questions, contact the SDBA's Alisa DeMers. 

ABA to D.C. Opinion Leaders: 'Unleash America's Potential'

 
As Congress re-convenes this week, ABA launched a new campaign on Tuesday to keep regulatory relief for banks on the crowded Capitol Hill agenda. Through daily sponsorship of the popular Axios PM email newsletter, which has an engaged audience of policy experts and influencers, as well as ads in the Politico newspaper, ABA is sharing the message to Unleash America’s Potential.

The campaign emphasizes that America’s full economic potential continues to be restrained by layers of duplicative and ill-fitting regulations and urges Congress to act this year on regulatory reform. “There are bipartisan ideas ready for action, and even regulators agree it's time to reassess some of the rules on the books,” says the message. “The House has already passed one reform bill. Now it's the Senate's turn to act.” Learn more at aba.com/RegReform.

The campaign follows a radio ad push during the August recess in select states by the Fund for Economic Growth. The radio spots urged listeners to call their senators and ask them to pass regulatory reform. Listen to the Fund's radio spot.

SBA Seeks Temporary Loan Processors for Harvey Relief

As it prepares to process an "extraordinary" number of disaster loans in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the Small Business Administration is seeking professional commercial loan officers for a temporary assignment in processing loan applications.

"Because SBA is the Federal government's primary source of money to help homeowners, renters, businesses, and non-profit organizations recover from disasters, we are looking for additional staff to aid in our efforts," SBA said in a letter to lenders on Friday. "SBA is asking business lenders to solicit their professional employees to identify and recruit loan officers willing to assist the SBA in processing disaster loans."

Loan officers--who would take a leave of absence from their bank jobs--would be temporarily hired by SBA as "special government employees," reviewing and making recommendations on loan applications for up to 130 days in either Fort Worth, Texas, or Sacramento, Calif. SBA says it will cover all expenses, including salary at government rates, travel, lodging, a meal per diem and local transportation. Retirees and others with lending experience are also eligible for the program.

ABA encourages banks and bankers to participate if interested and able. Read more. To participate or for questions, please contact SBA's Gina Beyer.

Article Explores How Lessons of Katrina Made Banks More Resilient

 
The latest article in the ABA Banking Journal explores five ways bankers and regulators have learned lessons from Hurricane Katrina--12 years ago almost to the week--and shows how those lessons have helped the industry become more resilient to disasters like Hurricane Harvey in the western Gulf Coast region.

The article focuses on greater IT redundancy and hardening, the growth of mobile banking, improvements in cash management, a more proactive regulatory posture and a more sophisticated operational response as factors enhancing the banking industry's ability to restore services quickly and support their community's recovery from a disaster.

As cleanup efforts continue in the aftermath of the hurricane, ABA is encouraging bankers to make a tax-exempt contribution to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund set up by the Texas Bankers Association and the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. Bankers can also continue to find updates and other resources related to Hurricane Harvey on aba.com.

• Read the article.
• Donate to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund.
• View ABA resources on Hurricane Harvey.

Federal Judge Invalidates Obama-Era Rule on Overtime Pay

A federal judge in Texas last week overturned the Obama administration’s final rule doubling the salary level used to determine whether employees are classified as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The rule--which would more than double the salary level for exemptions from $23,660 to $47,476, regardless of whether the employee would qualify for exemption under the test of “executive, administrative or professional” duties--has been prevented from taking effect for nearly nine months pending litigation.

District Judge Amos Mazzant has now granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by 21 states and several business groups, invalidating the final overtime rule. It remains to be seen whether the Department of Labor will appeal the ruling; under the Trump administration, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta was expected to revisit the overtime rule and is currently seeking public comments on its projected impact.

Mazzant ruled that in doubling the salary test, the Obama administration’s interpretation of the FLSA was not “reasonable” and therefore not warranting the “deference” otherwise shown by courts to regulatory actions under the Chevron precedent. “The Department has exceeded its authority and gone too far with the Final Rule,” he ruled. “Nothing in [FLSA] Section 213(a)(1) allows the Department to make salary rather than an employee’s duties determinative of whether a ‘bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity’ employee should be exempt from overtime pay.”

ABA, among others, has frequently pointed out that in many parts of the country, many managers will be swept up by the overtime rule’s unnecessarily high salary levels. When the rule was finalized, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols commented that “throngs of employees across the country, especially those at small banks and branches where a handful of employees wear many hats, will face reduced opportunity and flexibility in the workplace.” Read the order. For more information, contact ABA's Cris Naser