With a year for the record books now safely in the rear-view mirror, regional bankers apprised the year ahead. Lending, employment and regulation surfaced among the talking points along with the always-pertinent focus on the customer.
Anthony Costa,
President and CEO
Empire State Bank, serving Orange and Ulster counties and Staten Island
“The banking industry has worked hard over the past year to help our region ?recover from the economic and housing meltdown and has been focused on ?regulatory reform efforts in the House of Representatives and on mortgage reform in Albany. ?“In both cases, the legislation that was passed was seriously flawed and would ?actually have the unintended consequences of hindering our economic recovery. In the new year, bankers will focus on continued regulatory reform initiatives in the U.S. Senate, where I hope the focus will be not on banks which follow all the rules set out by our multiple banking regulators, but rather on cracking down on the non-bank financial companies who played the greatest role in causing the mortgage crisis and remain largely unregulated.
“In 2010, lenders in New York will be learning to operate under a new residential mortgage foreclosure law that will bring enormous additional credit risk and uncertainty in an already unstable environment. In fact, most of the bankers I know believe this new law could have a chilling effect on New York”™s mortgage market at precisely the time that we want to encourage eligible, qualified borrowers to pursue homeownership. We hope that we can work with public officials next year to modify that law so that the dream of homeownership in our state remains an attainable goal for working families. ?“As always, we will continue to serve our customers and our communities and do ?our best to help bring about a true economic recovery for the Hudson Valley ?region.”
Mary D. Madden
President and CEO
Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, serving Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties.
“What I would like to see in 2010 is pretty simple: More than anything, it would be great to have the employment situation locally, regionally and nationally turn for the better and see employers start hiring again. Too many people in the Hudson Valley have lost their jobs, been furloughed or had their work hours cut. Many families have been overcome by the shaky employment situation. It has impacted the quality of their lives as well as their abilities to meet their obligations.
“Loan demand also has been impacted as people hold off on buying new cars or homes, making household improvements or repairs and more. That being said, the Hudson Valley has been more fortunate than other parts of the country in that our unemployment rate is lower than in other regions. In addition, the business community, working in concert with state and local governments, should do what we can to attract businesses to our area as well as provide growth opportunities for small businesses.”Â
John Tolomer,
President and CEO
The Westchester Bank, serving Westchester County
“The financial collapse of 2009 was by far the most serious crisis our nation”™s economy has faced since the Great Depression. While we have yet to see all the impacts this will have on the banking industry, one emerging trend is a return to the ”˜back to basics”™ approach of community banking.
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“This is good news for banks that are highly focused on serving local small and mid sized businesses, a sector that the big multi-national banks have underserved for many years. The idea of local bankers making local decisions on business loans is nothing new. It”™s the way business banking used to be conducted. Suddenly everything old is new again.
“As the economic climate improves in 2010, we may see the big banks return to what they were doing in the past. However, they will be operating in a new regulatory environment that will force them to be more internally focused on their operations. This should benefit the small community banks which are more customer relationship driven.
“Overall, community banks will continue to outperform the big banks in 2010.
One big reason is access to technology. Community banks such as ours can offer our customers the very latest technology such as online banking and remote deposit services. By leveraging this technology for the benefit of our customers, we can offer everything the big banks have, but with the added advantage of highly personal service.
“Despite a challenging economic climate, 2009 was a very good year for The Westchester Bank. We experienced strong and steady growth in assets, deposits and loan volume. In addition to officially opening our new headquarters in Yonkers, we also added our second branch which is located in the heart of downtown White Plains. Looking ahead to 2010, we intend to build on our record of success by staying focused on serving our customers.”  Â
Richard Jones,
Executive vice president
Provident Bank, serving Orange, Rockland, Dutchess, Westchester, Putnam, Sullivan counties and Lodi, N.J.
“Our bank would love to see more loan demand since Provident is clearly in a position to lend from a capital point of view as well as our desire to support an economic resurgence. Secondly, a see more dialogue between politicians and the banking industry which leads to intelligent regulation of egregious practices, particularly the trading of exotic instruments by all financial institutions including hedge funds and insurance companies; implementation and enforcement of existing regulations on the books and implementation of strong capital requirements on all the near financial institutions such as hedge funds, mortgage companies and the like.
“Also, a continued vigorous investigation and prosecution of potential illegal activities by financial firms or individuals that may have occurred would be useful to restore a sense of justice and equity. Not every bank is stocked with ”˜fat cats”™ ”“ there were 714 banks that took TARP money leaving 8,000 who did not.   Most opted out of taking it because they simply didn”™t need it or had no intention of being a ward of the state; Provident was one of those who didn”™t need the infusion and wish to be truly independent of meddlesome politics.
“Lastly, and to repeat, restoring independence of action and creativity to the financial industry with the appropriate regulations and enforcement of same is clearly one of the many efforts needed to get the economy back in order. That”™s what I would like to see in the year ahead.”
John Ritacco,
President and CEO,
Community Mutual Savings Bank, serving Westchester County
“This year was a period of steady growth for us, highlighted by the successful opening of our new Mount Kisco branch in May.
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“While some financial institutions have, and continue to struggle to regain their footing during these difficult economic times, Community Mutual has continued to focus on its core business and has made major strides in implementing our business plan in each of our branch markets.
“Looking ahead to 2010, we are cautiously optimistic about the area economy. While unemployment continues to remain high and small business activity is sluggish, we are hopeful that the recent signs of an economic recovery will become clearer in the months ahead.
“We continue to make loans on both the residential and commercial side. In terms of residential lending, we are seeing activity from re-financings from homeowners looking to take advantage of record low interest rates. We expect residential lending to pick up once there is more evidence that the housing market has finally bottomed out.
“We also anticipate more activity in small business lending in the year ahead as business owners position themselves for a recovery. Our approach to community banking ”“ where decisions are made locally by employees who live and work in the community ”“ is particularly appealing to small business owners looking for a friendlier and more personal banking environment.
“As we approach our 123rd anniversary, Community Mutual Savings Bank is well positioned to compete in today”™s challenging economy by offering a complete line of products and services to consumers and small business customers.
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Marjorie Rovereto,
President and CEO
Ulster Savings Bank, serving Dutchess, Greene, Ulster and Westchester counties and Long Island
“Stability in regulation, home values, and foreclosure would move 2010 in the right direction. The economy is slowly moving forward but job retention is key. We will not be able to afford to lose any more jobs. While we would love to see new business in the region, we realize it is our neighboring businesses that need our support and flexibility.
“Ulster Savings looks forward to providing needed viable solutions to today”™s businesses, including readily available credit for homebuyers, insurance and financial services. It is our hope that the initiatives on a federal level will encourage a positive growth in jobs and spur spending. We are optimistic the New Year will present opportunity and attention to the important business of banking.”
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William Spearman,
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President and CEO
Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, serving Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties
“MHV had a good 2009, but as we close out the year, it will certainly go down as one of the most challenging periods in our credit union”™s 46 year history. The depths of the economic recession and financial markets collapse came closer to the Great Depression that any other period in American history. The real estate collapse led to a down turn in the financial markets which in part led to a recession around the globe. The credit union movement was not insulated from these massive market corrections which led to the conservatorship of two of the largest corporate credit unions in our system and severely impaired the remaining corporate credit unions.
“This had a severe impact on natural based credit unions, which became responsible for rebuilding the equity in our share insurance system plus taking sizeable write downs on member capital invested in these corporate credit unions. At this time it is uncertain how the corporate system will survive in 2010 but be certain MHV is looking at all options as we move forward.  Many natural based credit unions are facing severe financial challenges, particularly those most hard hit by plummeting real estate values in the sand states (California, Arizona, Florida, and Nevada.) While we are officially in an economic recovery effective the third quarter, it has been a jobless recovery and will be so for a good portion of the 2010. This, too, will have impact here in our own community.
“It is our hope there will be a rise in consumer confidence. Without that, consumer spending (credit) will again face a challenge in 2010. Consumers need to spend responsibly, with a combination of both savings and credit to make their purchases. This is a gradual progression that will take several years to provide an appropriate balance.
“We also ask our elected officials to be prudent in the legislation they pass. Many consumer-friendly bills before Congress are an effort to address issues caused by major banks, not community banks or credit unions. Frankly, many of the proposed laws go too far to put further pressure on financial institutions already faced with razor-thin margins.
We hope the new year does not stay a jobless one for very long. There is much pressure on good members/consumers who are a marginally making ends meet and can’t so very much longer.
“Hopefully, it will be a better year for the auto industry, since there is a pent up demand for replacement vehicles. The average age of American-owned auto is nearly eight years old, the oldest in recent history. Credit Union’s provide financing for 20 percent of the auto market place.
Michael Fitzsimmons,
Vice president for retail banking
Webster Bank, serving Westchester County
“I suspect that I”™m not too different from most people, regardless of your industry, when I say that the one thing that I want to occur in 2010 is for jobs to begin growing again and for unemployment to start dropping.
“Job growth would go a long way toward solving a host of problems that are bedeviling our industry and our economy. Expanding employment would not only boost consumer confidence but it would help end the slide in housing prices.
“With a growing employment base, I think loan delinquencies and foreclosures would abate. Banks”™ balance sheets would improve, spurring new lending. Job growth would create demand for loans of all types as people begin to feel more confident about their futures.”
