Oklahoma Banker

By Jeremy Cowen Senior Vice President/Communications Editor As the calendar turned to 2023, it became evident the Oklahoma Bankers Association was going to celebrate an important milestone anniversary this year for one of its employees. Elaine Dodd, the OBA’s resident fraud expert, will have her 20th anniversary at the beginning of October. Hired in 2003, Dodd’s work has surpassed all …

Happy new year and welcome to 2023! Last year was a whirlwind as the elections took center stage and legislative battles were a plenty. This year looks promising, if for no other reason there aren’t any major elections. Still, there will be plenty of talk about who is and who isn’t a viable candidate for the 2024 presidential election. I …

Federal banking agencies late last month extended by one year no-action relief under Regulation O for banks lending to investment fund-controlled companies under specific conditions. The relief was set to expire at the start of 2023 but has been pushed back to either Jan. 1, 2024, or the effective date of a final Federal Reserve rule revising Reg O. The …

The Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC announced in mid-December the 2023 updated asset-size thresholds used to define “small bank” and “intermediate small bank” under their Community Reinvestment Act regulations. Annual adjustments to these asset-size thresholds are based on the average change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which is a measure of inflation. …

On Dec. 8, the Oklahoma Bankers Hall of Fame inducted four new members. This year’s class included four outstanding bankers who have been – and still are – pillars in the banking industry, their communities and the state of Oklahoma. This group of bankers falls right in line with previous inductees with their storied history and contributions still being made …

Net income at Oklahoma banks increased by almost 50% overall from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2022. The FDIC’s latest Quarterly Banking Profile, which was released in late November, showed good news for Oklahoma banks from the second to third quarters. After reporting $799 million in profits through the end of the second quarter, Oklahoma commercial banks …

Election day has finally arrived and the people have spoken. As this issue of Oklahoma Banker goes to press, however, we still don’t know the results of numerous federal elections and who will control the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House. By the time this issue hits your mailboxes, though, you might! We do have all the results of the …

The Federal Open Market Committee announced this month it would raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 3.75 to 4% – the sixth rate increase this year and the fourth time the the rate was raised by 75 basis points. FOMC also reiterated it believes ongoing increases will be necessary to help return inflation closer to its …

The OBA is proud to announce the group of inductees for the Oklahoma Bankers Hall of Fame, with the ceremony set for Dec. 8 in Oklahoma City. Dr. Sinclair Armstrong Jr., chairman of the board at Armstrong Bank in Muskogee; Shirley Barber, former president and CEO of Security State Bank in Cheyenne and the first female member of the Oklahoma …

As this issue of Oklahoma Banker goes to press, the Republican Party remained dominant in statewide Oklahoma races. Gov. Kevin Stitt retained his seat as governor, as he defeated Joy Hofmeister, while Markwayne Mullin defeated Kendra Horn for the unfilled term of Sen. Jim Inhofe’s seat. In the other U.S. Senate race, incumbent James Lankford easily defeated Madison Horn. In …