Looking back on 2023

I hope this message finds you recovering from the Thanksgiving holiday. Typically, it’s my favorite holiday involving good food, family, friends, and football. Stacey and I had a quiet one, however, this year as two of our daughters, our sons-in-law, and their kids were with the in-laws. So, we put up Christmas decorations (well…Stacey did), relaxed and dined on a typical Thanksgiving staple - lasagna! We’re planning our revenge however by ruining our four grandkids (with another on the way) at Christmas!

As I look back on 2023, I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to represent you all and the interests of community banking in North Dakota and nationally. And I’m proud of our accomplishments this past year at the 68^th Assembly of the North Dakota Legislature.

During the Regular Session, your association, which exclusively represents the interests of community banking, fared well. ICBND and especially its member bankers were instrumental in the defeat of the retail lobby’s efforts to limit interchange fees. Similarly, we squashed the credit unions’ aggressive and expensive campaign to expand their fields of membership. And we were also successful in defeating the most problematic of the anti-ESG bills.

At the federal level, the FDIC recently ruled (3-2 vote) that community banks with less than $5 billion in uninsured deposits will be exempt from its special assessment to replenish the Deposit Insurance Fund due to the failures of SVB and Signature Bank. This will rightfully save community banks nearly $3 billion over the next two years. Absent the advocacy and credibility of community bankers and their associations, I suspect there would have been a different result.

Moving forward, I’m thankful for the direction that your ICBND and ICB Services Boards of Directors provide us as we advocate for the best interests of community banking. I appreciate the time and effort that these dedicated individuals provide for the betterment of community banking.

Finally, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Until next time,

Barry