Blog Entries tagged 'Jeff Gerrish on Community Banking'

WHO HOLDS THE GAVEL? AND OTHER MODERN BOARDROOM ISSUES

jgerrish — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

As crisis days fade, a fresh look at community bank governance

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What should community banks' boards be doing now?

Now that the industry is recovering, I think it's time for the boards to focus more attention on matters other than asset quality and bank liquidity. Many of the boards need to begin an inward focus on issues of corporate governance and corporate risk. [...]

WHERE ARE YOUR BANK'S NEXT LEADERS COMING FROM?

jgerrish — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Who's going to be your banks next CEO? And who will be your next directors?

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Now that most community banks are out of the woods, from an asset quality standpoint, are we taking the necessary steps to deal with management development and succession?

I was recently asked to make a presentation to a "Day with the [...]

WHEN THE 'SAY ON PAY' COMES FROM SOMEWHERE IN THE BOARD ROOM

jgerrish — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Board, management, and staff compensation isn't simple anymore

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It is not easy any more--community bank compensation, that is. It is simply no longer, "Let's give everybody a 2.5% raise and a discretionary bonus."

Watch out for the rapids

I have had several situations lately where various aspects of community bank management and board compensation have been issues. This has been everything from [...]

HOW DO YOU SPELL SUCCESS?

jgerrish — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Did the financial crisis rewrite the dictionary?

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How does a community bank define "success" in the current environment?

Has it evolved over the last five-year financial disaster?

Or has nothing changed?

Gerrish' home recipe for success

For the last 30 years I have encouraged community banks t [...]

THREE'S A CROWD, BUT ARE THEY INVESTORS?

jgerrish — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Will "crowdfunding" make a dent in community bank capital chase?

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Capital is still king!

Community banks need to understand how to get it and not be afraid of it. One alternative may be through "crowd funding."

Defining the technique

You may not be familiar with the term "crowd funding." C [...]

CREDIT CULTURE: A SECOND-ROUND DEAL KILLER

jgerrish — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Bad milk from a bad cow? You'd better be sure

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Those of you who have been following my blog over the last couple of years know that recently I did a several-part series on issues related to mergers and acquisitions. Not to revisit that series, but to point out one more recent phenomenon that is impacting transactions: "culture war."

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MICROMANAGEMENT ISN�T THAT HARD TO FIGURE OUT

jgerrish — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Think about it. Would you have a banker do your job?

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Does your bank's Board of Directors attempt to micromanage the operation of the organization?

As they know, or should know, management of the organization is not their job. Oversight is.

Frankly, although some directors who are prone to micromanagement profess to be [...]

THE SYNOVUS SETTLEMENT: A CORPORATE GOVERNANCE VIEW

jgerrish — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The case isn't quite as it's been reported, but there are good reminders here

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This is a companion to a Talking Credit blog by Ed O'Leary, which addresses this case from a credit perspective.

Have you heard about the Synovus Financial Corp.'s settlement of its shareholders' derivative action, Miller v. Anthony et al. in the Fe [...]

DUE-DILIGENCE: LAST STOP BEFORE THE MERGER COMMENCES--OR DIES

jgerrish — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Part 6, concluding Jeff's mergers and acquisitions series: Handling due diligence--and who it protects

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This is my sixth and final blog (for now) in the series on Community Bank Mergers and Acquisitions. The first five blogs dealt with the board's receipt, analysis, and response to an unsolicited offer. This blog will deal with the issues of due diligence. [Thos [...]

TICK, TICK, TICK ... KA-CHING!! UNSOLICITED OFFERS AND BETTERING THE DEAL

jgerrish — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Fifth in a series: Maximizing shareholder return once clock starts

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This is the fifth in my series of blogs on merger and acquisition matters for community banks. Blog #2 dealt with the issue of "What constitutes an unsolicited offer." Blog #3 dealt with the issue of "What does the board need to do when it actually receives an unsolicited offer, i.e. analysis." Blog #4 gives th [...]

UNSOLICITED OFFERS: THE RULES, REAL LIFE, AND REAL LIFE UNDER THE RULES

jgerrish — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Fourth in a series: How far can "no" go if money says "yes"?

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This is the fourth in my series of blogs on M&A matters for community banks. Blog #2 dealt with the issue of "What constitutes an unsolicited offer." Blog #3 dealt with the issue of "What does the board need to do when it actually receives an unsolicited offer, i.e. analysis."

This week [...]

WHEN THEY SHOW THE COLOR OF THEIR MONEY

jgerrish — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Third in a series: What the Board must do when unasked-for offer gets concrete

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This is the third in a series of blogs on merger and acquisition matters. Blog #2 dealt with the issue of what constitutes an unsolicited offer and provided preliminary information as to the board's obligations with respect to that type of activity. The purpose of this blog is to tell you what [...]

HANDLING THE UNASKED-FOR OFFER

jgerrish — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Part 2 of M&A series: You were minding your own business when someone tried to buy you...

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This is the second of a series of blogs on community bank merger and acquisition issues. (Read Part 1 here.) This blog will deal with an issue that often puts fear in the hearts of community bankers--the unsolicited offer.

Note I did not say "hostile offer."
< [...]

GETTING YOUR BANK READY FOR INCREASED M&A

jgerrish — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:00:00 +0100

First in a series about community bank consolidation, for all players

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How long have folks been predicting a wave of community bank mergers? How should you be preparing for it?

This is the beginning of a series of blogs on community bank merger and acquisition issues. I will discuss the issues of buying, selling, or remaining independent; how to res [...]

THINKING BACK, AND FORWARD, ON THAT WONDERFUL FELLOW, THE �REGULATOR FROM HELL'

jgerrish — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Has he retired, mellowed, or changed over to compliance?

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Over the last three years, while I have been blogging about community banks, I have had the opportunity to address numerous situations impacting the lives of community banks and community bankers. As you might appreciate, the blog that generated the most hits (5,441) [...]

TWO MUSTS FOR PLANNING THAT WORKS: FOCUS ON ESSENTIALS--AND HIRING THE BAD GUY

jgerrish — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Final installment in six-part series

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This blog is the last in a series on issues associated with community banks' long-term planning efforts. It's been timed for when many community banks typically are in the "planning season."

My final blog on this matter will provide you with a few additional indi [...]

DO YOU REALLY NEED A MISSION STATEMENT?

jgerrish — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Fifth in Jeff's series about avoiding wasted planning efforts

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This blog is the fifth in my series on issues associated with community banks' long-term planning (hopefully appropriate for the many community banks that are now in the "planning season).

Now I'm turning to the difference between plannin [...]

4 C'S OF PLANNING, AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK FOR YOU

jgerrish — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Fourth in a series of blogs on avoiding wasted planning

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This blog is my fourth in a series on issues associated with community banks' long-term planning (hopefully appropriate for the many community banks that are in the "planning season"). In previous blogs I provided several indicators that your strategic planning may be a waste of time if . . .

These indication [...]

STRATEGIC PLANNING: DON'T FORGET WHY YOU'RE THERE

jgerrish — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Third in a series: Don't let your effort get SWOTted to death

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Editor's note: Jeff Gerrish's series on community bank strategic planning began with a discussion of the risks run that board members will reject the planning process, and then a blog on the appropriate roles in planning for board members. This week's blog looks into ways strategic planning sessions can go w [...]

CAN YOU GET YOUR BOARD BACK FOR PLANNING NEXT YEAR?

jgerrish — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Second of a series: Why more isn't better and too much is really too much

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Editor's note: This is the second in a series Jeff is writing about mistakes banks make in the planning process. You can read Part 1 here.

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How do you avoid the typical "recoil" from your directors when [...]