Pub. 11 2022 Issue 3

https://financialedinc.com/?a=vacb

Linda Cohen, the founder of Linda Cohen Consulting, is a professional keynote speaker known as the Kindness Catalyst. A consultant since 2012, Linda has a blog on her website (https://lindacohenconsulting.com). She has written two books; 1,000 Mitzvahs in 2011 and The Economy of Kindness in 2021.

Kindness is a soft skill. Since kindness can be hard to teach, measure or master, many people dismiss it as a nonessential nicety that won’t make or break your business. They value other capitalist-oriented skills more, such as ambition, grit and skill.

This question is likely to garner different responses, depending on whom you ask, and a plethora of caveats. It is a tough call for the Fed because stifling housing-related inflation without punishing everyday homeowners is a tricky task. For investors, this question matters a lot because the Fed’s cessation from active Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) purchases eliminated demand from the largest buyer in the market and had a punitive impact on MBS valuations. If the Fed starts actively selling into the market, that could exacerbate things even further.

It’s no secret that financial institutions remain attractive targets for cybercriminals due to the amount of sensitive data they hold. Cyber threats and attack vectors are ever-changing, especially due to the current geopolitical climate. As a result, banks should embrace a holistic cybersecurity approach to strengthen their defenses against these evolving threats.

VACB has recognized an outstanding future leader in community banking with this year’s VACB/ICBA NextGen Scholarship.

The fraud forest has transformed into a jungle, with predators lurking since the start of the pandemic, and these predators often target what they perceive as the weakest in the pack – the young and the elderly.

Organizational leaders have been navigating uncertain times for over a year, and many changes have occurred at an accelerated pace, including changes within the workplace and workforce. As a result, leaders must evaluate their abilities, preferences, and perspectives to continue successfully leading their organizations through this new era of uncertainty and constant flux.

In the course of reviewing a financial institution’s information security program, it comes to the point of reviewing the organization’s business continuity plan. In doing so, it is not uncommon to hear, “Why do we need a business continuity plan?” or “How is this plan going to help me in a cyber-attack/incident?” With these questions, it is safe to assume that the organizations are completing their BCP to check it off a list rather than for their own benefit.