Pub. 15 2020-2021 Issue 4

How We Got Here
In 2009, some said interest rates had nowhere to go but up. Well, Treasury yields found a way to continue to go down and stay down. The Fed took seven years to increase the funds rate by a quarter point at the end of 2015, then another quarter point increase twelve months later, followed by seven more quarter point rate hikes in 2017 and 2018. All nine rate hikes were undone by the Fed in a short amount of time, with three of the rate cuts coming in the latter half of 2019 as part of a “mid-cycle adjustment.” The remaining cuts came in March as part of a historic monetary response from the Fed.

During normal times, it can be challenging for bankers to get their arms around the regulatory requirements surrounding the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. So, when you add a global pandemic, such as COVID-19, things can get a little dicey, especially when navigating competing priorities.

Board of Directors Responsibilities
Financial institutions are economic engines that drive our communities. At the head of each financial institution is a Board of Directors, who oversee and provide direction for the institution to ensure the operation and meet its customer needs. The responsibility for such oversight is massive and has evolved greatly over the last 10 years to include investments in technology and cybersecurity. The Board is held accountable to the institution’s shareholders, employees, depositors, the community they serve, and the regulators for the operations of an efficient, safe and sound institution.

Background
Capital One suffered a breach when credit card applications harvested from their server were posted on GitHub. Due to a misconfigured web-application, the information was accessible to individuals who had intimate knowledge of the flaw and the ability to exploit the misconfiguration. The flaw, however, was so esoteric that it could only have been known to or exploited by someone with very specialized knowledge or extensive experience in the configuration of the server.

After months of planning and preparation—and if we’re being honest, a little angst—Americans went to the polls in record numbers in early November to cast their votes in presidential, state and local races.

Nebraska Banking Friends:
Another election year has come and gone. Unless you happen to live in the great state of Georgia, I suspect your televisions, social media channels and mailboxes will not be cluttered with campaign or political materials for the next two years.