California Bankers Association



Frequently Asked QuestionsQ: What is the Western Bankers Association (WBA)?A: The WBA is the new name for the association that resulted from the merger of the California Bankers Association (CBA) and the Western Independent Bankers (WIB) Association. Since the announcement of the merger in late September, members of both organizations voted nearly unanimously to approve the merger. The combination of CBA and WIB, to form WBA, continues the state, federal and regulatory advocacy efforts for California banks through the CBA division, and provides educational and professional training for all of the members through the WIB division.Q: Why did these two organizations choose to merge?A: As a combined association, WBA now has more than 200 years of experience serving banks in the West. Both CBA and WIB had a common mission of educating and connecting bankers to help them achieve the highest standards of personal and organizational excellence. The strengths of the two associations are complimentary, and the consolidated organization -- WBA is stronger and provides more services and value to our member banks than either organization previously did on their own.Q: How did CBA and WIB merge their brands and areas of focused support? A: On January 1, 2018, WIB merged into CBA, and CBA simultaneously changed its name to the Western Bankers Association (WBA). The CBA and WIB names and their respective areas of professional focus were retained, and now operate as divisions of the WBA for branding and marketing purposes. WBA continues the regulatory and legislative advocacy efforts in California and at the federal level under the branding of the CBA division. In addition, WBA has combined the training and conferences of the CBA and WIB to present an enhanced banking educational program to members across 13 Western states and U.S. territories. All conferences and training are now offered and marketed by the WIB division of WBA.Q: What service does WBA provide and what does it mean to CBA and WIB members?A: There are now some exciting opportunities. This merger created a stronger membership value, designed to serve member banks better with both education and advocacy. The CBA division of WBA continues to advocate for California member banks with elected officials and bank regulators at the state and federal level. (State advocacy efforts remain focused in California while all members benefit from advocacy with bank regulators and elected officials at the federal level.) The WIB division of WBA is continuing to focus on delivering dynamic conferences, training seminars, more than 250 webinars, and enhanced education for member banks. The WIB division has incorporated the conferences and educational offerings CBA historically offered into its array of conferences. Training and education will continue to take place in the 13 Western states and U.S. territories that the WIB historically served. In addition, annual dues will now be paid to one organization, rather than two. Administrative savings allow for more efficiencies for better member support. Q: What does the merger mean for our strategic partners (conference sponsors/vendors)?A: Our strategic partners can also expect additional benefits and value from the consolidated WBA conferences. The expanded number of member banks will result in greater conference attendance and more exposure for our strategic partners at each event. In addition, the merger of the two associations has resulted in savings on WBA affiliate membership dues, since those dues will be paid to only one association -- WBA. Q: What does the WBA leadership look like?A: Simone Lagomarsino is the president and CEO of WBA. She also will continue to lead the advocacy efforts of the CBA division. Kevin Gould will continue to oversee state advocacy efforts, and Maurine Padden will continue to oversee advocacy efforts with bank regulators and at the federal level. Michael Delucchi is a senior vice president with WBA, and he is focusing on professional development, education and training as the executive director of the WIB division.The WBA board of directors now includes the board members who previously served on the CBA board of directors, and six additional members, who represent banks outside of California, from WIB’s former board of directors. The most recent chair of CBA, Kathie Sowa, (commercial banking market executive and market president of the greater Sacramento region for Bank of America Merrill Lynch), is the chair for the WBA board of directors. WIB’s most recent chairman, David Joves, (SVP of the California region for Bank of Guam), is one of the six new WBA Board members, and has also joined the WBA executive committee. Q: What does this merger mean for the banking industry?A: There has been considerable consolidation in the banking industry over the past few decades with very few new banks being started. As a result, it makes sense for the trade associations that represent the banking industry to focus on how we can serve the industry more efficiently. We believe that the merger of WIB and CBA achieves the goal of serving the member banks more efficiently, while also providing greater value.Q: Where is the headquarters located?A: The consolidated organization – WBA-- is headquartered in Sacramento, California. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download