We’re now just four days away from the longest day of the year and official beginning of summer, and it has been a busy, successful first half of the year for IBANYS – with significant activity in Albany and Washington, major educational conferences and meetings, launching our new CRM (JUMBL), and preparing for big changes to our website. Still, there is much remaining on our agenda as we start the second half of 2026 – and we look forward to your continued active participation and engagement. 

• A FINAL NOTE ON 2026 IBANYS’ CONVENTION – AND A LOOK AHEAD AT THE 2027 CONVENTION: A sincere “THANK YOU” to all of our sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, attendees and our bankers whose support, participation, and commitment to New York's community banks made this milestone event an outstanding success! We appreciate your support of IBANYS! A video recap is in the body of the newsletter.

• JUNE14-16, 2027: IBANYS Convention is coming back to the Resorts World Casino in 2027! Might as well make plans now! 

• SAVE THE DATE: IBANYS’ EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM. JOIN US at our next big IBANYS event of the year – the Executive Leadership Symposium October 5-7, 2026, at 1000 Harbor Hotel in Clayton, NY. Watch our upcoming emails, weekly Updates and newsletters for more details. . .More information is coming soon! You can also visit https://ibanys.net/meetings-schedule/ for news about all IBANYS’ meetings. 

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• SRM’S MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: MEETING A TRANSFORMATIONAL MOMENT: Many financial institution leaders are realizing that today’s wave of M&A is about far more than consolidation. As margins tighten, competition intensifies, and customer expectations continue to rise, strategic deals have become a powerful accelerant for institutions looking to expand capabilities and position themselves as future market leaders. Join SRM's M&A and financial services experts on Thursday, June 25 at 2:00PM ET for a discussion grounded in our latest industry report, Mergers & Acquisitions: Meeting a Transformational Moment. The session will explore: 1) Why M&A activity is accelerating; 2)  What today's transformational deals reveal about where the industry is headed, and 3) Which operational and technology decisions often determine whether institutions can create long-term value post-close. Attendees will gain a clearer view of the strategic questions boards and executive teams should be asking right now. To register: https://info.srmcorp.com/winning-through-ma?utm_campaign=webinarmanda0626&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_ijeOqiCrHEq1ZQRd2mYaRJDwbCfjDKdZXfVwKv_i0DJfZkanviWdik3Sz4P_sVm4Af4nB-mclFBW_W8v_Ioxhzyy6hw&_hsmi=423029408&utm_content=mandareport-em2-webinar-button&utm_source=hubspot.

• COMMUNITY BANK OUTLOOK: The latest Independent Banker magazine details the lending outlook and community bank loan growth trends for the remainder of the year. Noting community banks kicked off 2026 with robust lending growth despite economic challenges like higher interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty, the article spotlights the regulatory shifts, disciplined strategies and strong relationships that are driving lending amid the current landscape. The magazine is available on the Independent Banker website and via the digital edition. 

IBANYS Convention "It's a Wrap"

IBANYS 2026 Annual Convention: The 3 C's of Community Banking

What an incredible three days!

From golf and the Vendor Appreciation Reception with our signature Poker Run to insightful educational sessions, networking, and a successful Silent Auction benefiting the IBANYS Political Action Committee, the 2026 Annual Convention brought New York's community banking industry together to learn, connect, and collaborate.

A heartfelt thank you to our sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, and attendees for making this milestone event such a success. Your dedication and support continue to strengthen New York's community banks.

IBANYS JUNE WEBINARS

Associate and Preferred Partners

Dan Flaherty

Managing Director

505 5^th Avenue, 5^th Floor

New York, NY 10017

(404) 991-8724

dflaherty@breancapital.com

www.breancapital.com

Employee Recruitment, Selection, and Placement

• Recruitment standards for effective hiring
• Training importance for less-qualified applicants
•  Selection tools and testing methods
•  Behavioral traits for role alignment 

Situational and Behavioral Interviewing

• Purpose of employment interviews
• Job analysis improves interview success
• Using structured interviews
• Situational and behavioral questions
• Individual vs. panel interviews 

Driving Employee Engagement

• Engagement vs. satisfaction and commitment
• Engagement’s impact on performance
• How engagement evolves over time
• Key drivers of engagement
• Strategies to boost retention and performance 

Creating an Accountability Culture



• Accountability issues and impact
• Barriers to accountability
• Improving individual accountability
• Strategies for mutual accountability 

This program has been pre-approved for 12 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR®, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).“ The content of the program submitted has met the criteria for Recertification Provider Program.

ICBA Information

ICBA 2026 Educational Offerings

Thank you for your continued support of both IBANYS and ICBA Education. As we work together to serve the community banking industry, our shared goal is to deliver comprehensive, high-quality training solutions that empower community banks to succeed.

To further streamline processes and enhance the overall experience for our bankers, we are retiring the State Affiliate code from transaction purchases. While this change also eliminates the associated revenue share, ICBA remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting our state association through a variety of educational programs and collaborative initiatives.

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to achieve shared goals and create meaningful impact.

Click here to learn more about ICBA offerings including:

• Certification Courses
• Live Events
• Online Courses
• Resources

Investing with Intent: How Optionality Is Quietly Costing You for Banks



As interest rate uncertainty continues to shape the financial landscape, community banks must look beyond traditional portfolio measures and evaluate the hidden risks embedded in their investments. In this month's article, Andrew Okolski, Managing Director at The Baker Group, explores how optionality risk can silently impact portfolio performance and offers practical strategies for building a more intentional, balance sheet-focused investment approach. His insights provide valuable guidance for bank leaders seeking to strengthen portfolio decisions in an increasingly complex rate environment. Read Article

ALBANY UPDATE

State Legislative Items

• 2026 SESSION SUMMARY. With the 2026 State Legislative session officially adjourned, IBANYS provided a detailed report on what relevant legislation passed – and, did not pass. Read IBANYS' Summary. Ot, visit https://ibanys.net/newsletters/ and read the June 10 IBANYS newsletter. 

• BUDGET UPDATE: New York's 2026-27 financial plan was released, and the state budget for fiscal year 2027 is not $268 billion, but $277 billion. The plan shows spending has climbed almost 10% above the $254 billion figure enacted last year. A DOB spokesperson said most of the $9 billion increase reflected a plan to spend previously approved federal aid that was sitting in a trust fund to continue providing subsidized health coverage to lawfully present immigrants. 

• CHANGES IN LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP: Politico New York analyzes the impending leadership shakeup among Albany Democrats with the retirement of state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris and Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes.  

. . .

State Regulatory News

• DFS-NY:  The State Department of Financial Services said it has proposed new stablecoin rules to align its framework with federal requirements under the GENIUS Act.  https://crypto.news/new-york-dfs-updates-stablecoin-regime-ahead-of-genius-act-rollout/.

• EXPRESS NY: Gov. Hochul highlighted the first 50 regulations the state has struck down as part of the new Express NY initiative to reduce red tape and bureaucracy for businesses and individuals that must interact with state government. https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/50RegReformActionsReport.pdf

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Economic News

• TAX RELIEF: Gov. Hochul announced Tuesday that the state has begun mailing out STAR property tax credit checks to 3 million residents across the state. Homeowners who are eligible and registered for the program will receive their check before the deadline for their school taxes. Read More

• BUSINESS ACTIVITY: Business activity increased moderately in New York State in June according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey. New orders and shipments moved higher, unfilled orders increased, delivery times lengthened, supply availability worsened, employment expanded, and firms maintained a fairly optimistic outlook for business activity.

FEDERAL UPDATE

• HOUSE-SENATE AGREEMENT ON HOUSING ACT  WITH COMMUNITY BANK RELIEF: House and Senate leaders announced a deal on bicameral housing legislation that includes ICBA-advocated community banking provisions and began advancing the measure last night. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Scott (R-S.C.), Ranking Member Warren (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee Chairman Hill (R-Ark.) and Ranking Member Waters (D-Calif.) announced the final housing package Tuesday after months of negotiations and multiple votes on separate House and Senate versions of housing legislation. IBANYS advocated for this in meetings in Washington last month in the offices of the New York Congressional Delegation and our two U.S. Senators and in a grassroots campaign over the past week urging the Senate to take up the House-passed community banking provisions.

• FED KEEPS RATES UNCHANGED IN WARSH'S FIRST MEETING IN CHAIR. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady and officials readied for higher borrowing costs, as inflation fears dominated new Chairman Kevin Warsh’s first meeting as Chair. The decision to keep rates at a range of 3.5% to 3.75% for a fourth-straight meeting was supported by all 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee -- the first policy vote that did not feature some form of opposition since June of 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06/17/business/fed-meeting-warsh-interest-rates?smid=nytcore-ios-share

• SIX COMMUNITY BANK SUCCESSES SO FAR in 2026, AND KEY REMAINING ADVOCACY CHALLENGES. In a new blog post, ICBA President & CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey spotlights six key advocacy successes of the first six months of the year and the key challenges that require continued engagement. In the message to community bankers, she cites the industry’s successful efforts to achieve exemptions from the Section 1071 final rule and advance regulatory relief via Congress and the federal banking agencies, and urged community bankers to remain engaged with ICBA to address challenges from the digital assets sector, credit unions, and more. Read the post.

• CRYPTO CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED: ICBA’s new advocacy campaign on protecting local communities from the risks posed by unregulated crypto products continues this week. ICBA announced the campaign in a national news release. It is available a mainstreetovercrypto.com, including a new 30-second ad contrasting the essential services community banks provide against the crypto push for less accountability.

• CLARITY ACT:  In a joint letter to lawmakers, ICBA and 44 affiliated state banking associations including IBANYS — urged senators to amend the Clarity Act digital assets market structure bill before it is considered on the floor. They reiterated their longstanding call for H.R. 3633 to include a robust and effective prohibition on payment of interest, yield, or rewards to holders of stablecoins. Citing ICBA’s economic data analysis showing failing to extend the yield prohibition could reduce community bank lending by $850 billion due to a $1.3 trillion reduction in the industry’s deposits, they provided detailed updates to Section 404 of the bill to strengthen its narrow prohibition on payment of stablecoin yield. The Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill last month with updated language barring stablecoin yield that's “economically or functionally equivalent” to interest on bank deposits.

• GENIUS ACT: The OCC proposed a new information collection that would include weekly and quarterly reporting forms for permitted payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The OCC’s new proposal would require permitted payment stablecoin issuers and foreign payment stablecoin issuers to submit two reports to the OCC: 1) A weekly confidential reporting form to the OCC for each payment stablecoin the bank issues; 2) A quarterly reporting form to the OCC. Comments on the forms are due within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register. Numerous GENIUS Act rulemakings are underway. ICBA last month urged the OCC to strengthen its proposed GENIUS Act rules to protect against stablecoin risks, and last week it called on the FDIC to adopt a strict payment stablecoin framework.

• OCC REVISED DEFINITION OF MDIs: The OCC revised its definition of minority depository institutions and updated several related policies. The OCC said the updates: 1) Replace references to specific OCC structures and resources with general directions that are unlikely to become obsolete; 2) Revise its definition of an MDI to more closely align with the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) and base the definition more on the statutory definition while describing how the OCC may maintain the designation of current MDIs; 3) Are consistent with President Donald Trump’s executive order implementing the Department of Government Efficiency.

• FHA ON FRAUD: The Federal Housing Finance Agency asked Congress for expanded authority to take on fraud in the housing finance market. In its latest report to Congress, the FHFA noted it is statutorily required to obtain reports from its regulated entities if they discover or suspect they have purchased or sold a fraudulent loan or financial instrument, and the FHFA may refer suspected fraud to other appropriate state and federal agencies.

• USA PATRIOT ACT: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released updated guidance to clarify how financial institutions can share information with each other about suspected fraud under section 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act. FinCEN released a fact sheet that includes examples of the type of information institutions can share with each other under section 314(b), including video surveillance footage, cyber-related data, and fraud indicators.  Federal regulators issued a joint final rule to implement the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022.

• LATEST ON CREDIT UNIONS: ICBA highlighted the positive role of community banks in local communities in contrast to large credit unions in a new article in Barron’s on what it means to be a community bank. ICBA President & CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said community banks are distinguished by their commitment to relationship-based lending and local decision-making: “That’s what defines community banking—a focus on accountability, local engagement, and meeting the needs of customers.” The article also covers ICBA’s The Illusionists national advocacy and marketing campaign focused on the harmful impact of the credit union tax exemption, spotlighting how large credit unions grow through acquisitions and regulatory advantages while accountability, tax fairness, and consumer choice disappear.