Well I am attending my first Peer Group meeting today. I am hoping it is helpful and proves to be worth my time. Has anyone, or does anyone out there attend Peer Group meetings, and if so, how often?

Thanks everyone! Have a great Friday!

I do. Our group meets monthly over the lunch hour. We discuss current exam findings, regulatory changes, audit issues, recent seminar suggestions, etc. It's helpful to hear first hand what the other banks in our area are seeing. We also use each other as sounding boards for implementation plans and the tough technical questions we're not sure about.

The other great aspect is you know you aren't alone in this everchanging compliance world - no one understands better than another Compliance Officer!

I have in the past. The Louisiana Bankers Association (LBA) formed several peer group several years ago. Each meets quarterly and you may attend physically at their office or by conference call. If you cannot attend they will send you minutes of items discussed. It is usually 2 1/2 hours with fixed topics of discussion.

I have found peer discussion very beneficial, especially with all the changes lately and coming in the future.

Our state trade association has a compliance committee. We meet quarterly (in person or by phone). We also have a list serv where we can ask questions of the group. We also have one another's e-mails so we can e-mail a limited group a question instead of sending to the list serv.

i sit on several, have yet to attend 1 that didn't provide some benefit

I would love too, but we are pretty spread out up here in northern MN.

We have no peer, so this effort would be a waste of time!

Your institution may not have a peer, but you as a Compliance person have peers in the industry. I'm a part of several groups and they are always beneficial, even if our institutions aren't overly-similar.

Oh Manni, you know I had my tongue planted squarely in my cheek. Ask Ed Audit, he knows!!!

Sorry, my mind reader skills are sub-par this week.

Pale is correct no one would wish to be his peer

While these meetings are useful, you need to be careful that you don't disclose certain information which could trigger anti-trust considerations (e.g., what your bank charges for fees, interest rate information, etc.). Hopefully a disclaimer is read by someone at the beginning of the meeting to remind the attendees about anti-trust issues. If in doubt on what can/should be discussed, you should check with your bank counsel.

Make sure there is no mention or discussion of examination ratings also.

Well our first meeting went well I thought. It was from 10-3. There are a combination of compliance and BSA folks from quite a few banks. It was decided that we would meet quarterly, go over hot topics, issues that others are having, anything that would be helpful. I think it is going to be very beneficial. Thanks everyone for the information.