The SW Graduate School of Banking (SWGSB) Foundation will convene its 156th Assembly for Bank Directors at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, British Columbia, August 24–27 to plan for a successful future, focusing on community banking and new imperatives. The conference will be guided by the industry’s leading authorities on community banks and their competitive edge. On the agenda are critical issues bank boards are facing nationwide, including specific areas of corporate governance, strategic planning and best practices. Extensive Q&A and director engagement moderated by panels of experts will afford you the opportunity to drill down further to gain a complete understanding of what’s expected of today’s boards of directors and their senior management. Recent peer exchanges at our other programs have been transformative.

The Assemblies for Bank Directors draw bank directors and senior management from throughout America to discuss the latest issues affecting the national banking industry. By monitoring the banking industry’s hot topics, SWGSB ensures that the bank director program content is always fresh and dynamic. The locations are calm and relaxing, the speakers are top-notch. The bank faculty and facilitators are drawn from the nation’s leading banking experts. With an eye on new bank regulatory expectations and D&O insurance provisions, these national banking programs are designed to complement a financial institution’s own efforts in assembling a board whose strategic vision and oversight are second to none.

The assembly will cover a number of important topics, including:

• Board Governance, Shane Goodwin, associate dean and professor of practice, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University;
• Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, Allan Schott, attorney, consultant and former chief counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, McLean, Virginia;
• Featured Keynote Speaker: Julie L. Stackhouse, former executive vice president, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and director, Simmons Bank and Simmons First National Corp.;
• Board Peer Group Session: 5+1 Hot Topics, facilitated by William T. Chittenden, Ph.D., chief academic officer, SWGSB Foundation at the Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University; and Merrill Reynolds, founding partner, Reynolds Williams Group, New Braunfels, Texas, and managing director, SWGSB’s Certified Community Bank Director’s Program;
• Breakout Sessions: ALCO and Stress Testing, Jamie Sumner, partner, Velligan-Blaxall Consultants LLC, Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Credit and Stress Testing, Matt Earl, principal and managing partner, Reynolds Williams Group, Westerville, Ohio;
• Bank Board Composition, Nancy Sheppard, founder and CEO, Women2Boards, San Fransisco, California;
• Practical Steps for Establishing and Growing an Enterprise Risk Management Program, Robert Wright, executive vice president, director and risk management/corporate secretary, Citizens Bank & Trust, Kearney, Missouri;
• A Bank Director’s Guide to the Economy, Edmond J. Seifried, Ph.D., chief economist for the SWGSB Foundation at the Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University;
• Economic Forecast, Edmond J. Seifried, Ph.D.; and
• Roundtable Discussion with Earl, Goodwin, Schott, Sheppard, Seifried, Sumner and Wright.

The featured keynote will include a luncheon (with spouses), sponsored by Commerce Street Capital.

Book Before July 24 for the Best Rates

The Fairmont Empress serves as the program’s host site. Known as the “Castle on the Coast,” it sits proudly at the center of culture and history in Victoria, British Columbia, steps away from the British Columbia Parliament buildings. The award-winning hotel and national historic site is an alluring blend of classic and contemporary, vintage and cutting-edge—a perfect blend of modern and iconic. This Forbes Four-Star, 4-Diamond landmark property is celebrated for its reputation for providing legendary hospitality and highly personalized service for more than 110 years. In 2017, the property completed a $60 million restoration that celebrates its proud history while moving the hotel into a new era of modern luxury. A grand tradition for more than a century, the Fairmont Empress has served England’s most beloved ritual of afternoon tea to famed royalty, celebrities and dignitaries alike. Tea at the Empress continues this quintessentially Victoria experience. To register for accommodations, click here, or call 866/540-4429 (reference the Assembly for Bank Directors). Book early! After Friday, July 24, rooms and group rates are subject to availability.

Click here to register for the event. For more information, write, call or email SWGSB, SMU Box 214, Dallas, Texas, 75275; 214/768-2991; [email protected]. Click here to download a brochure with details on the event.

Established in 1957, the SW Graduate School of Banking has become one of the top banking educational institutions in the nation. It is a professional school for bank officers, regulators and others holding management positions in the financial services industry. The graduate school’s sponsoring partners include the Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas bankers associations, the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and Southern Methodist University.