ICBA LIVE 2027: Made for This Moment

Regulation W implements Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act and governs transactions between banks and their affiliates. The regulation is designed to protect banks from transferring undue risk, losses, or funding advantages to affiliated companies within a corporate structure. This session provides an overview of Regulation W, focusing on the provisions most frequently applicable to community banks. Participants study real world examples to understand the ways Regulation W impacts day-to-day operations of community banks, and strategies which may be utilized to achieve and maintain compliance with the applicable requirements. Learning Objectives: Describe the purpose and scope of Regulation W and its role in governing transactions between banks and their affiliates. Explain the key provisions applicable to community banks. Recognize the types of day-to-day community bank activities that may trigger Regulation W compliance obligations. Analyze real-world scenarios involving affiliate relationships and transactions to identify potential compliance risks. Duration: 60-minutes Presented live and recorded on 10/06/26.

Even with robust vendor solutions, Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) models can struggle in periods of uncertainty. Forecast-based models can become too sensitive to economic assumptions, while current-conditions models may miss turning points. Qualitative adjustments can swing each period to make up for these gaps—undermining confidence just when clarity is needed most. Darling Consulting Group experts share real-world case studies from their validation work, highlighting the most common model limitations and propose solutions that you can use at your institution to ensure your CECL model remains balanced and fit-for-use. Learning Objectives: Identify common limitations found in CECL model methodologies. Describe how model sensitivity to economic forecasts and current conditions can affect CECL results. Recognize when qualitative adjustments may be compensating for quantitative model weaknesses. Apply practical solutions to keep your institution’s CECL model balanced, reliable, and fit-for-use in changing environments. Duration: 60-minutes Presented live and recorded on 10/14/26.

Community banks are increasingly investing in artificial intelligence, yet many institutions struggle to move beyond experimentation and achieve meaningful adoption across the organization. This session addresses the leadership, cultural, and change-management challenges that often slow AI initiatives and prevent employees from realizing their full potential. Participants get to explore strategies for establishing ownership, building internal champions, creating accountability, and overcoming resistance to change. The session also examines approaches for helping employees transition from passive exploration to practical, business-focused application of AI tools. Through real-world banking examples and live demonstrations, attendees leave with a clearer understanding of how effective leadership can drive AI adoption and unlock tangible value across the institution. Learning Objectives: Identify leadership, cultural, and change-management barriers to AI adoption in community banks. Establish ownership, accountability, and internal champions to support AI initiatives. Apply strategies to overcome employee resistance and encourage responsible AI adoption. Evaluate real-world banking use cases to identify opportunities for improved efficiency, decision-making, and productivity. Duration: 60-minutes Presented live and recorded on 10/20/26.

Your website is open 24/7, staffed by no one, and it's often the very first, and sometimes only, interaction a prospective customer has with your brand. Yet most financial institutions manage it like a project instead of a branch, with no one clearly accountable for how it performs. This session helps you pinpoint exactly how mature your website management really is, assign real ownership before the gaps cost you, and build the kind of reporting your executive team can actually act on. Learning Objectives: Assess your own maturity: a four-level model for where your website sits today, from unmanaged, to monitored, to managed, to fully staffed, so you can name the gap before you fund it.Understand what "being discovered" now requires: how AI-driven and generative search changes the discovery job, and what that means for who owns it internally.Assign real ownership: a framework for defining who the branch manager is, what authority they need, and which standards the site is held to.Build reporting executives can act on: web performance framed as decisions and dollars rather than clicks, opens, and impressions. Duration: 60 minutes Presented live and recorded on 10/21/26.