Commissioner's Corner
By: Judi Stork, Acting Bank Commissioner
As we begin the last quarter of 2006, I thought I would provide some insight on the current events at the OSBC. During late August or early September of each year, all OSBC employees meet for a three day educational conference. As our staff is housed in seven different locations throughout the state, it gives us a chance to reconnect and allows new employees the opportunity to meet existing staff. This year's event was in Lawrence and one of the highlights for me was a visit from KC Wolf!
Our current Strategic Plan will be ending this year and in the next six months we will hire a facilitator, meet for a working session, and formulate a new five year plan. In addition, we have submitted our budget to the Governor for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. We have once again requested an expansion of our staff -- six new examiners in the Consumer and Mortgage Lending Division -- during this two year period. We regulate over 9,000 entities and individuals in this division and are working to establish a reasonable exam cycle in the supervision of this industry.
In the very near future, the OSBC will select a company to provide an improved agency wide database. When complete, the system will allow us to better serve our constituents by strengthening our presence on the Internet and in the use of e-commerce. It will allow us to accept certain applications and payments via the Web and allow the submission of mandatory reports, such as stockholders' lists and oaths over the Internet. The new system will also allow simpler access to files we have digitally stored and provide remote access to the database for our field staff.
We continue to see a healthy banking industry in Kansas with only seven of our 257 state banks rated a 3, 4, or 5. We have seen an uptick in the problem ratings for the IT area, primarily due to poor auditing procedures, with 27 banks having a 3 rating. Topics on the minds of regulators include the proposed commercial real estate guidance from the FFIEC and how it will be implemented; evaluating core liquidity at banks and the use of borrowings and brokered deposits; data security issues; and predatory lending and consumer protection.
Finally, George Myers, the Director of Examinations in the Banking Division, retired in September after 22 years with our agency; 27 years in bank regulation. Many of you may have crossed paths with George during his career. We wish him well.
