About Us

About the Illinois Bankers Association

 

The Illinois Bankers Association is a full-service trade association dedicated to creating a positive business climate that benefits the entire banking industry and the communities our members serve. Founded in 1891, the IBA brings together state and national banks and savings banks of all sizes in Illinois. Over 40% of IBA members are community banks with less than $150 million in assets, and over 75% of IBA members are community banks with less than $500 million in assets. Collectively, the IBA represents nearly 90% of the assets of the Illinois banking industry, which employs more than 100,000 men and women in almost 5,000 offices across the state.

About Our IBA Compliance Services

 

We have three attorneys in our law department, all of whom support our compliance services and work on the questions we receive from our members. All of our attorneys also support our government relations, education and vendor programs, along with our other corporate needs, but it is fair to say they devote the large majority of their time to answering our members’ questions. Our attorneys work as a team, and almost all of our answers are reviewed by all of our attorneys for quality control purposes, due to the complexities and constantly changing nature of bank regulation.

We are pleased to see our complimentary compliance services continue to grow in popularity with our members. Our volume of questions has increased every year since we formalized the program in 2012 and began recording our answers for sharing with all of our members. Since then we have posted more than 4,000 questions and answers on IBA Compliance Connection. We typically receive several questions each business day, although sometimes we experience a much heavier volume. We strive to balance our research time with the volume of questions in our queue; however, bank compliance officers and other bank personnel are highly trained and educated, and when turning to us, their questions often raise issues of first impression that are not quickly answered by simply looking up laws and regulations.

Whenever possible, we try to connect with a member who is asking us a question within twenty-four hours of receiving it. In our conversation, we try to assess whether the need for an answer is urgent, whether we need more facts to research the question, and whether the bank would be better served seeking a more formal legal opinion or more immediate response from their bank's counsel. It is important to note that we are not permitted to provide legal advice under Illinois law, because our attorneys are full-time employees of the IBA, and the IBA is not a law firm. What we do provide is guidance, which typically includes sufficient information for the bank compliance professional to independently reach the right conclusion.

We are always looking for more ways to improve our compliance services, and we welcome your suggestions and feedback. We look forward to hearing from you, and thank you for helping us grow our compliance program and making it a success!