So in the next few months, my bank will be completing a merger. I am lucky (?) enough been able to keep my position as the BSA Officer. Will basically be in the same type of role but on a much larger scale.

Has anyone gone through this? Any pointers on how to attack this? Excited but nervous. Thanks for any direction!

If it matters- I am on the "bought out" end of the deal...

Be flexible very flexible

Yea, until you get the lay of the land with your new shop, you should be open minded on any proposed process changes.

I was involved in one of these about 11 years ago. Ours was a merger of equals but we did keep one bank's name.

One thing I did was review all exemptions and refille them under the new name, the other thing I did was read all SAR's filed for the other entity. (It was interesting how much overlap I found.)

I reviewed procedures from both banks and deliberately kept some from each and discarded some from each. I didn't want either entity to have the mindset that their program was perfect and didn't need to change . . . Including my own. Normally I would say that change for change sake is bad but this is one case when some procedures where OK but one bank owned them and the other didn't. Also, I wanted the examiners to see that we put together a new programmer for the larger entity. And I was very glad I did - at our first exam I was asked point blank how our program had changed to accommodate our doubled size.

The last thing would say is train, train, train. Don't assume that the staff at the "other" bank knows BSA. You need to know where they are and the only way to know is to go to their branch and department meetings and listen more than you talk.

Good Luck.

Like Greg, I experienced a merger of equals (2 years ago). I had BSA/Security/Fraud in my legacy bank, as did my counterpart from the other institution. Upon merging we realigned our duties, leaving Security/Fraud at my desk and BSA at my counterpart's desk.

Like Greg, we learned that there is value in examining the policies and procedures of both organizations and incorporating items from each into the merged program. In doing this, be sure to aim for the processes that are truly the best fit. This can only be done by spending time with the policies and procedures of the new-to-you half of the merger, and learning the reasons why certain things are the way they are.

During our merger, we learned that even though our respective footprints were near each other, our markets and histories were vastly different. Our individual programs had grown to address the challenges, demographics, and risks associated with the communities we served. Like Greg suggested, learning these will require a lot of listening.

Learning where each bank is coming from will also help you effectively communicate program and procedural changes to your frontline team. They will be overwhelmed with changes to processes, systems, and expectations, so the clearer a road map you can provide them, the easier it will be to get everyone on the same page and moving forward in the same direction.

what are you attacking?

Been through several bank M&As, where we were buyer of whole banks, some branches, seller of some branches, merger of equals...you'll need to be a little more specific about what you are looking for.

Thanks for all the responses and feedback. I appreciate you all taking the time to respond.

Happy- I guess I worded it funny. Was only looking for pointers on where start. I am very comfortable currently and more than doubling in size is....scary /exciting etc . Glad you have had the experience, this will be my first!