2020 Community Banking Research Conference to Go Virtual, Sept. 30-Oct. 1

ST. LOUIS ― Community bankers, academics, policymakers and bank supervisors from around the world will meet virtually the afternoons of Sept. 30-Oct.1 for the eighth annual Community Banking in the 21st Century research and policy conference.

Given the nature of the virtual environment, the conference days will be condensed to 1-4 p.m. Eastern Time, with optional post-plenary meetings held at the end of each day. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard and Senior Vice President of Supervision Carl White will participate in the post-plenary discussions scheduled for the first day.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Federal Reserve System, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will host the conference via the WebEx online meeting platform, with the proceedings livestreamed on communitybanking.org.

This year’s keynote speakers include:

• Michelle Bowman, governor, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, at 1:40 p.m. ET on Sept. 30
• Jelena McWilliams, chairman, FDIC, at 3:25 p.m. ET on Sept. 30
• Laurie Stewart, president and CEO, Sound Community Bank, Seattle, at 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 1

2020 CSBS National Survey of Community Banks

The first day of the conference will kick off with the results of the 2020 CSBS National Survey of Community Banks. Since 2014, the national survey has provided insights into the opportunities and challenges that banks faced during the previous year.

Special Panel: Community Banking in the Age of COVID-19

At 3:10 p.m. ET on the second day of the conference, a panel will discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and how community banks have been navigating through these turbulent times. The panelists will include:

• Jill Castilla, president and CEO, Citizens Bank of Edmond, Edmond, Okla.
• Kenneth Kelly, chairman and CEO, First Independent Bank, Detroit
• Frank Scott, Jr., Mayor of Little Rock, Ark.

Rhoshunda Kelly, interim commissioner, Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance, will moderate the discussion.

Research Papers and Authors

Eight papers were selected to be presented at this year’s conference. They include:

• Shared Destinies? Small Banks and Small Business Consolidation | Authors: Claire Brennecke, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Stefan Jacewitz, FDIC; and Jonathan Pogach, FDIC
• Bank Entrepreneurs | Authors: Kristoph Kleiner, Indiana University and FDIC; Manju Puri, Duke University and FDIC; and Chiwon Yom, FDIC
• “Revitalize or Stabilize”: Does Community Development Financing Work? | Author: Daniel Ringo, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• The Propagation of Local Credit Shocks: Evidence From Hurricane Katrina | Author: Samir Elsadek Mahmoudi, Department of Economics, Georgia State University
• Big Banks, Household Credit Access and Intergenerational Economic Mobility | Author: Erik Mayer, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University
• Government-Sponsored Wholesale Funding and the Industrial Organization of Bank Lending | Author: Dayin Zhang, Haas School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• How Important Is Moral Hazard For Distressed Banks? | Authors: Itzhak Ben-David, The Ohio State University and the National Bureau of Economic Research; Ajay Palvia, FDIC; and René Stulz, The Ohio State University and the National Bureau of Economic Research
• Insurance Pricing, Distortions, and Moral Hazard: Quasi-experimental Evidence from Deposit Insurance | Author:
  George Shoukry, FDIC

2020 CSBS Case Study Presentation

The winning team of this year’s CSBS Community Bank Case Study Competition, Mississippi State University, will present its findings on the second day of the conference. This year’s topic was the impact of the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti-money laundering requirements on community banks. 

For the complete conference agenda, see the conference website.

Media interested in participating in this invitation-only virtual event must register in advance with St. Louis Fed Media Coordinator Maria Hasenstab at maria.e.hasenstab@stls.frb.org.