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Current Events - 08/28/2000

It is with mixed emotions that I announce this will be my last Current Events column. I have spent 14 wonderful years at CBA that I will cherish, but I am now eager to begin a new chapter in my professional career. Effective September 18, I will become the General Counsel at Fremont Bank and finally fill the one area in financial services where I lack experience, working as an actual bank employee. I look forward to this opportunity with great enthusiasm and anticipation and I could not have picked a better bank or better people to join.

At the same time, I am leaving the place I have warmly known as my professional home for so many years. I want to thank the wonderful staff at CBA for being such loyal and generous colleagues. These are the people I spent more waking hours with than my family during the work weeks, and I did so willingly. They are stalwart and steadfast advocates for our industry and they will go anywhere and do what needs to be done so that your voice and your interests are heard and respected. CBA’s effective advocacy is heard in the state legislature, in Congress, before  your state and federal regulators, in any court of law, in the arena of public opinion, in front of the television lights or the newspaper editorial boards, and in our educational meetings and gatherings with bankers.

The attitude of the CBA staff is extraordinary in my opinion. At our convention this year one of the speakers (Stephen M. Gower) said there are only five attitudes anyone can have about something and four of them are bad. They all started with the letter “A”. The following is paraphrasing from his lecture:  Apathy, or the expression of indifference, is clearly a negative attitude. So, too, is the  mutually conflicting feelings of Ambivalence. Antagonism is the third obviously adverse attitude. Acceptance I used to think of as a positive attitude, but no longer. While the term implies a favorable reception or approval, it is by its nature both a passive and one susceptible to change. The only truly positive attitude is one of Advocacy. This is an active, engaged, enthusiastic and committed state of mind coupled with effective action. Advocacy truly describes the attitude of the CBA staff toward our industry. I will certainly miss working beside them for the common good. To the CBA staff: bless you all and thank you!

In the course of my time at CBA I have noticed a transformation of my feelings about the industry I represented and the people I dealt with on the Board and various committees. In the beginning I was in awe of banking and financial services. Later that turned to respect as I truly saw how your daily work provides the fuel for the nation’s economy on both a micro and macro level. I developed a greater appreciation for the commitment bankers have for their customers and their particular skill at assessing risks in many different forms. Ultimately it is the effective management of these risks that allows banks to profit and grow. My respect grew into admiration as I saw firsthand the passion with which bankers from all sizes of institutions gave of themselves to enrich their own communities. The banking industry is truly a hallmark of community reinvestment. And this reinvestment occurs not as a result of legislation, but out of a deep concern for the well being of your own customers and communities. And finally, my admiration has blossomed into true affection for the industry and for the many bankers I have met along the way. The quality of leadership in this industry is impressive and the personal qualities of the bankers I have had the pleasure to deal with have been warm and personable. I understand that I was the “hired help” when I worked at CBA, but I was never treated that way. That is remarkable and I am grateful to you for that.

To my many friends in the banking bar I thank you for your counsel, your wisdom, your support, and your never-ending willingness to help me. The group that call themselves banking lawyers are the most generous and unselfish collection of attorneys I have ever known. It is my very great pleasure to work among this wonderful collection of women and men. I salute you all and you can count on my staying in touch!

The most overwhelming feeling I have as I depart CBA is one of pride as I recall the many battles and victories the CBA and the industry have won together. Working on the inside I have come to really appreciate the value CBA membership brings to each of you. Working as a banker I intend to continue contributing to the success of CBA as a committee volunteer. My leaving CBA will not dull my enthusiasm for the association nor will it stop my active participation. I am an Advocate for this place and believe it deserves every banker’s support.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for your faith and your support. My years at CBA have been enriching and rewarding to a degree I could not even have wished for. I cannot tell you how fortunate that makes me feel. I have enjoyed writing this column each week as a personal communication with the industry. I feel like I have been talking with each of you individually when it is sent out. Wish me well as I start my new job at Fremont Bank. I will see you on the front lines again as we face new issues and old ones. Until then, I retire from active duty as your scribe and as CBA’s General Counsel, but I remain your loyal colleague. Ciao!
 

Chris Chenoweth
CBA COO & General Counsel
08/28/00