Financial Institutions

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS SUBSECTION

by Tobin D. Kern

The Financial Institutions Subsection held its most recent meeting on October 22, 1998. Because the Subsection had been dormant for several years, Subsection members discussed the current membership list, the core clientele of the Subsection's active members, and the goals of the Subsection.

Members decided to focus the Subsection's activities on legal issues affecting Colorado banks, particularly issues of interest to independent community banks who are based in Colorado. It was decided that the Subsection should not expand the scope of its activities to include legal issues affecting the securities and insurance industries, even though the financial services industry is experiencing significant consolidation across banking, insurance, and securities lines of business. This decision was made in light of the competing and potentially conflicting positions that these Colorado businesses are likely to take on state and federal legislative initiatives.

Subsection members decided that the most useful Subsection activities would be quarterly meetings at which the Subsection hosts a speaker from the banking industry, particularly federal and state banking regulators. In addition to its quarterly luncheons, the Subsection plans to sponsor CLE seminars on its own or in conjunction with other subsections of the Business Law Section when legislation of broad impact is proposed or adopted or when there are other common or overlapping interests.

Finally, the Subsection discussed several specific legislative proposals, including the financial modernization bill that failed in the most recent Congress and the Bankruptcy Reform bill.

The Subsection's next quarterly luncheon will be set for a date in the first quarter of 1999.