Blog Entries tagged 'Jeff Gerrish on Community Banking'

DUE DILIGENCE: SHOULD YOU START WITH A LETTER OF INTENT OR A TERM SHEET?

jgerrish — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Third of a series: Getting due diligence under way and appropriate

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I have recently been blogging on due diligence in connection with community bank acquisitions, and acquisitions in general, since that seems to be what is going on. This week I'm looking at two related issues: the timing of due diligence and the alternative forms of legal steps to get due diligence rolling. (Part one: "Due Diligence Sta [...]

DUE DILIGENCE KEEPS YOU FROM BUYING A PIG IN A POKE

jgerrish — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Second of a series: Due diligence means much more than credit

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With the upcoming renewed interest in community bank acquisitions, I thought I would elaborate on the last blog's due diligence discussion, and then advance the discussion further.

Credit risk: A matter of scale and scope

The previous blog addressed the issue of credit due diligence. The point was [...]

DUE DILIGENCE STANDS BEHIND SOUND M&A

jgerrish — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0100

As merger movement begins, banks must tread with care

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Recently, our consulting firm has received a number of inquiries regarding assistance in due diligence in connection with community bank acquisition transactions. Although the "big" New York investment banks are singing the blues that not much is going on in the merger and acquisition arena, there is certainly a lot of act [...]

A REAL-WORLD VIEW OF THE REGULATORY APPEALS PROCESS

jgerrish — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0100

If you're going to try it, try it for the right reasons

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Why is the federal regulatory examination appeals process not so appealing? Read on.

Appeals only go so far

Both FDIC and the Comptroller's Office, within the recent past, have reminded banks of their ability to appeal Material Supervisory Determinations as contained in the [...]

BANK EXAMS: Jeff Gerrish�s 6-part CAMELS series

jgerrish — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:00:00 +0100

Understanding modern sense of regulators’ traditional system

November 2, 2011

During the summer an ABA Banking Journal editor, attending a private banker meeting, heard this exasperated complaint:

“I just wish [...]

UNDERSTANDING MODERN CAMELS, PART 6: SENSITIVITY

jgerrish — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Sixth in a series about what regulators want in a CAMELS

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Jeff Gerrish has been taking readers through a six-part look at the modern essentials of the CAMELS system. Read his takes on Capital, Assets, Management, Earnings, and Liquidity after you read this final installment on Sensitivity to market risk.

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Are you or your bank the "s [...]

UNDERSTANDING MODERN CAMELS, PART 5: LIQUIDITY

jgerrish — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Fifth in a series about what regulators want in a CAMELS

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Jeff Gerrish has been taking readers through a six-part look at the modern essentials of the CAMELS system. Read his takes on Capital, Assets, Management, and Earnings after you read this fifth installment on Liquidity.

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Is bank liquidity important? [...]

UNDERSTANDING MODERN CAMELS, PART 4: EARNINGS

jgerrish — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Fourth in a series about what regulators want in a CAMELS

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Jeff Gerrish has been taking readers through a six-week look at the modern essentials of the CAMELS system. Read his takes on Capital, Assets, and Management after you read this fourth installment on Earnings.

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As indicated in my last blog, I thought I would take a stab at providing some real-world explanation of the CAMELS rating system. The last blog dealt with the Capital component of the CAMELS rating system. This one will be my best effort at Asset Quality.

Foundation to CA [...]

UNDERSTANDING MODERN CAMELS, PART 1: THE CAPITAL QUESTION

jgerrish — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:00:00 +0100
First in a series about what regulators want in a CAMELS

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One of the great mysteries of banking life, especially for community bankers, is the CAMELS rating system.

This blog deals with the "C" from the CAMELS rating system, the rating for Capital. It comes in response to recent questions from bankers about what regulators mean today. Look for a series of blogs attempti [...]

TIPS FROM A BANKING ROAD WARRIOR

jgerrish — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:00:00 +0100
7 ways to make friendlier skies for you and fellow passengers

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As many of you know, our consulting and law firms work with community banks in every state in the nation. As I like to kid people, we represent 20% of the banks in Hawaii (there are only 5), approximately 10% of the banks in Vermont (there are only 12), etc. Because of the opportunities we have representing our community bank client base nationwid [...]

THE GERRISH MAILBAG: ANSWERS TO SOME QUESTIONS FROM DIRECTORS

jgerrish — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Queries touch on officer honesty, the board packet, and the future of the branch

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I recently received several inquiries from a couple of directors on topics I thought might be of interest to a broader audience.

Concerns about the other 50% of the partnership

The first issue was: &quo [...]

THOUGHTS ON HOW NOT TO FAIL

jgerrish — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 01:00:00 +0100

It isn't rocket science, but it does take commitment

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Last week's blog involved the question of "Why do banks really fail?"

This week, let's take a more positive spin, and answer the question, "How do you keep a bank from failing?"

The answer is easy.

< [...]

WHY DO BANKS REALLY FAIL?

jgerrish — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Sometimes one bad factor takes it down, but sometimes it's death by multiple traumas

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Of the 350 or so banks that have failed during the last three-year economic debacle, our firm has had the opportunity to work with, in one way or another, about a third of them. In fact, every Monday morning after the Friday night bank failures, one of our consulting and law firm staffers sends a memo around that XYZ Bank failed [...]

BANK DIRECTOR EXPECTATIONS, AND THE BIGGEST ONE OF ALL: �SKIN IN THE GAME'

jgerrish — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Director accountability should begin in the boardroom

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There's an issue that I generally receive inquiries about, particularly at the tail end of a strategic planning get-together when I am in executive session with the board of directors of the bank and holding company. The question often asked is:

"What is really expected of us as directors?"

Asking [...]

3-RATED AND WAITING FOR SBLF MONEY? GO WHISTLE

jgerrish — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Dividend waiver issue may keep your bank from getting funds

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News Announcement: The Small Business Lending Fund is available only to CAMELS 1- and 2-rated banks.

You won't read that in the paper or on a website (until now, in this blog), but that's the case, effectively. Read on if you want to know why I say that.

A nonrestriction restriction, [...]

GET READY FOR �FORWARD-LOOKING SUPERVISION'

jgerrish — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Call it "pay now, err later"

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Hold onto your hats! Forward-looking supervision by the bank regulators is coming. That is right--forward-looking supervision.

Contrast this to the type of supervision most banks have received historically and currently from both state and federal regulators. Supervision today, for the most part, is a snapshot in time as to the condition of the ban [...]

M&A: DON'T BYPASS DUE DILIGENCE--EVEN IF YOU'RE A SELLER

jgerrish — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Even selling for cash demands due diligence

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As noted in previous blogs, the merger and acquisition wave is beginning to come ashore. I've dealt previously with the five common mistakes of buyers and five common mistakes of sellers. And yes, there are many more than those on both sides, preliminarily dealing with due diligence. So I thought it would be appropriate to deal in more depth with the [...]

M&A MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE: THE SELLER'S SIDE

jgerrish — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:00:00 +0100
Part 2 of a two-part series about things that make mergers go wrong

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In my last blog , I addressed five common mistakes of buyers in community bank mergers and acquisitions. This week, I will address five common mistakes of sellers. (Not that there are not more!)

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