NEWS
		IBAT Comments on Overdraft Proposal IBAT last week filed a lengthy comment letter on the Fed's proposal regarding overdraft programs.  This is a serious issue, and an adoption of some of these proposed changes could significantly impact this important tenet of your business.  We encourage you to strongly consider filing your own comments with the Fed prior to the August 8 deadline.  Further information is available HERE.   United Title of Texas Closed United Title of Texas, Inc was closed on Wednesday by its parent company of Denver, Mercury Companies.  Substantially all United Title employees were laid off.  According to the Austin Business Journal, United Title CEO Jim Hilbun speculated that United Title was closed because a line of credit to Mercury was discontinued.  IBAT left a message at Mercury’s headquarters, but no one responded.      United Title closed its doors without forewarning the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) or United Title’s underwriters.  Auditors from TDI have gone out to each United Title office and are working with United Title underwriters to obtain the files.  TDI is steering inquiries to the underwriters, but, until TDI has a chance to review the files, these underwriters may not know exactly what they are or are not underwriting.  If your documentation names the underwriter, you should contact the underwriter directly.      According to TDI, the United Title underwriters are:       First American Title Insurance Co.       Title Resource Guaranty Co.       Pacific Northwest Title Co.       Old Republic Title Co.       Stewart Insurance Title Co.
TEXAS CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN
		IBAT is proud to be a supporting organization for the Texas Conference for Women.  For the first time, this year's conference will be in Houston on October 16 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.      This conference is an excellent opportunity for the women in your organization to hear dynamic speakers including Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Sarah Jones, Tony Award-winning playwright, actor and poet; Meg Whitman, former president and CEO of eBay; and Marcus Luttrell, author of the best-selling book, Sole Survivor, and featured speaker at this year's IBAT Convention.      They can also choose from among 75 experts in business, health, personal development, media, the environment and finance who will be leading seminars and workshops on the issues that matter most to women. Attendees will discover new communication skills, leadership strategies and work/life balance tools that will enhance their professional and personal growth as they begin the next chapter of their lives.      For more information, click HERE.
IBAT WINTER SUMMIT IX
		Hot Enough For You? There's relief in your future!  Final plans are coming together for the IBAT Winter Summit IX, to be held In South Lake Tahoe from January 25 - 27, 2009.  We will once again offer the latest from the leading regulators and bank attorneys in Texas, in a relaxed and beautiful setting.  Save the date, and watch for more information on this very popular program.
CONSUMER TIPS
		Thirty percent of America’s fraud victims are 60 years of age and older.  Seniors are often targeted for “free lunch” seminars.  Remember the cardinal rule of “free lunches” — there are no free lunches.  This month's issue of Consumer Tips will provide your senior customers with suggestions to safeguard their financial future to ensure their retirement years are their best years.  Click HERE to read the column.
CONVENTION UPDATE
		IBAT 34th Annual Convention - "Hometown Heroes" September 20-23, 2008 Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort, Bastrop, TX More information...      Don't forget...early bird and hotel cutoff is August 15.  Check out all the convention information HERE.      We're offering a special Pre-Convention Workshop entitled Estate Planning Ideas for Sub S Owners.  The workshop is free for all full convention registrants.  This session is one not to be missed if your bank has made or is considering making a Subchapter S election.
IBAT PAC AUCTION
		There's still time to donate your special item for the IBAT PAC Auction, September 22, during the 34th Annual IBAT Convention at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort.  Auction forms must be turned in to Mae Beth at IBAT by September 2 in order to ensure listing in the Auction Guide.  For an updated list of items received to date, click HERE.      For more information, contact Mae Beth at 512.474.6889 or by e-mail mbpalone@ibat.org.
LEGAL EASE QUESTION OF THE WEEK
		Question:   Under FCRA are we required to give the customer a disclosure of their Credit Score on home loans?      To find out the answer, click on the flashing question mark.  And you can also check out our searchable database of other frequently asked questions.
BAKER WEEKLY
		The U.S. economy lost 51,000 jobs in the month of July, more than economists had expected…total job loss for 2008 to 463,000 jobs…initial release of Q2 GDP data showed the economy grew at a 1.9% annualized rate.  Read more in this week's Baker Market Update.   Although this information has been obtained from sources, which we believe to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy. This is for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.
SOLUTIONS FROM SERVICES
		IBAT Members are recommending Fidelity's CONNECTIONS CRM product to their banker friends!      Troy Robinson, CEO of Bank Texas in Quitman, wishes his bank had acquired CONNECTIONS CRM before they rolled out their new rewards program that brought in 400 new accounts the first month!  Robinson says, "It will be so much easier to track these incentives over the next two months with CONNECTIONS..."      James Marek, Vice President/Operations, City National Bank of Taylor wrote, "We were impressed with the profitability models but more importantly saw this solution as a way to finally tie all of our existing marketing efforts together in a formal, more measurable solution.  We expect this product to make our customer response and cross sales efforts much more polished and consistent.  We also expect this product to make our marketing efforts much more targeted, therefore more efficient and in the end less expensive."      The Internet based CONNECTIONS solution provides a profitability analysis of your customers; gives the front-line employees the tools to better serve customers by understanding what products and services customers are most likely to purchase based on internal and external market data; keeps track of offered products through a pipeline and provides extensive and complete reporting tools to all levels of management.      The IBAT endorsement of CONNECTIONS was studied over a six month period by a task force of IBAT's executive officers who make these decisions in their banks every day.  Brad Smith, President of Abound Resources, led the group as they reviewed several similar software programs.      Bill Armistead (bill.armistead@fnis.com), Fidelity's Vice President and subject matter expert for CONNECTIONS, will schedule a webinar demo of the product at your convenience.  If you're excited about the potential of this project for your bank, we encourage you to have the right people in the room to view the demo who can advance the decision - the process will go smoothly and you'll be one of the bankers referring other bankers very soon!      More information...
ON THE EDUCATION FRONT
		Liquidity Management Summit September 4-5 Irving More information...   Purpose: u Answer critical questions relating to current liquidity guidance. u Provide ideas for finding the balance in your liquidity policy. u Demystify core deposit maturity and pricing issues. u Provide answers to raising retail deposits in this environment. u Create awareness of the various wholesale funding options now available to the financial industry.
COMING SOON
		For a complete listing of upcoming events, CLICK HERE.  Meanwhile, please mark your calendar for some of our key upcoming events.    Lending Compliance Summit August 21 - San Antonio   Liquidity Management Summit September 4-5, Irving   IBAT 34th Annual Convention September 21-23, 2008 - Hyatt Lost Pines Resort, Austin/Bastrop   Bank Operations Institute October 5-10, 2008 - Dallas   Sales Culture 201 Summit November - Dallas   TechMecca 2008 November 3-4 - Dallas   Financial Literacy Summit December 2-3 - San Antonio   IBAT Winter Summit IX January 25-27, 2009 - South Lake Tahoe