News

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman We wrapped up our first day of meetings on our Washington visit on Monday. Seventy bankers met with the ABA, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, FDIC and Federal Reserve. As you can imagine, the Oklahoma bankers had many questions and observations to share with the regulators. I have always found this trip to …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman Another busy week on the political scene. The Oklahoma legislature began a special session Monday to address the budget shortfall. The Republican leadership is pushing for a cigarette tax while the Democrats are looking to increase the gross production tax on energy production. Neither proposal appears to have the support to pass …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman This week we begin our Bankers’ Night Out series with events scheduled for Lawton and Woodward. The last two days have brought beneficial and timely rains, which always brings a smile to those of us with ties to that part of the state. I look forward to seeing the bankers in western …

  One of the nation’s largest credit reporting bureaus sustained a significant data breach late last week, and the breach may have a significant impact on a number of issues, including legislative proposals. “I’m sure the folks at Equifax are running around in circles trying to understand what happened,” OBA President and CEO Roger Beverage. “But the reality is this …

Great Plains Bank, based in Elk City but with locations throughout the state, including Oklahoma City, was featured in a NewsOK article this week. The story focused on the bank’s Midtown Oklahoma City location, which is much different from most banks with a more informal feeling, a lack of teller windows and no employees dressed in suits. You can read …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman Another interesting week in Washington politics. President Trump’s decision to negotiate a deal on the debt ceiling with leaders of the Democratic Party may be an indication of things to come. I get the feeling the president is looking for legislative wins and doesn’t care which political party delivers the win.  Like …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman I hope everyone had a great three-day weekend. My family started the weekend early attending the OSU game on Thursday evening. The weather and atmosphere was perfect for the home opener. Congratulations to both OSU and OU on great starts to the college football season.  It doesn’t seem appropriate to be espousing …

Through the first two quarters of the year, Oklahoma banks earned $720 million at the end of June 2017. Earnings to date are well ahead of bank earnings at this same point in 2016 and are $32 million ahead of the previous record year (2015).  Total assets have grown to $114 billion (roughly $11 billion ahead of last year) while …

An OBA Update late last month carried a report about a joint effort by the Texas Bankers Association and the Independent Bankers Association of Texas to help raise money for the Houston flood. The two banker advocacy groups expressed their heartfelt angst, thoughts and prayers for those communities that have been devastated by the recent hurricane. TBA and IBAT were …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman From a banking standpoint, things are quiet in Washington – not only because of the August recess but also because the banking agenda is far down the list of priorities for the administration and Congress at this point.  Somehow, we need to come up with a strategy to get our issues back …