Welcome to the newest WIB Publication
By Nancy Sheppard, WIB President & CEO

Addressing the challenges in the credit and lending environment are a high concern of many bankers according to a national survey released in March. As a result, there is increased emphasis by regulators, boards and management regarding the quality of the credit portfolio and the ability to grow in today’s economy. In keeping with WIB’s mission to “inform. educate. connect.” bankers and directors to solutions, we are pleased to launch our newest electronic newsletter. The Lending & Credit Digest, providing timely community banking-specific commentary, authored by industry experts just for this newsletter, will arrive in your inbox quarterly. This is a complimentary Members-Only benefit. Please feel free to circulate articles throughout your bank. We welcome any feedback regarding the Digest concept or particular articles. We hope that you find this publication of interest.  

Navigating Through CRE Risk
By Jeremy D. Taylor, AuditOne LLC 

As the housing sector's troubles deepen and spread, commercial real estate (CRE) is back on regulators’ radar screens as an area of concern. So what’s a banker to do? <read more>

Enforcement Issues in the New Wave of Loan Defaults – Common Pitfalls
By Tony Toranto, Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP

In the new wave of loans gone bad, lenders are already stumbling into some common pitfalls as they attempt to enforce their rights. This article is the first in a series of four that will highlight challenges the banking industry has not needed to worry about in boom times, but which are coming home to roost in the recent downturn. <read more>

Making New Rain . . . In the Coming Drought
By Dale Biron, Core Action Associates, Inc.

Lenders can’t develop new business, right? You need born rain-makers, right? Wrong. And it's these very assumptions by community bank leaders, managers and the lenders themselves that conspires to make it so. OK, so here’s exactly what bank leaders must do to develop new business before this down cycle gets any worse. <read more>

A Simple Stress Test for Commercial Real Estate
By Rex Beach, Shockproof! Training

Is it fair to say that the U.S. economy has slowed significantly, perhaps to the point where it may have slipped into recession? And is it fair to say that a growing number of economists and economic forecasts anticipate a significant decrease in commercial real estate values in 2008? We’ll explore these questions and a useful stress test for tough times. <read more>

Take advantage of another valuable resource from WIB - the WIB Article Archives! You'll find the a variety of articles on Credit Issues, as well as other important topics! 

Click here to explore the WIB Article Archives

Watch for the July/August issue focusing on Lending & Credit issues coming in late June!