Wednesday, April 20, 2022 9:00 am - 2:00 pm University of Wisconsin - Whitewater - 2:00 pm University of ...

Wednesday, April 20, 2022
          9:00 am - 2:00 pm
 University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

             Whitewater Innovation Center
                1221 Innovation Drive
               Whitewater, Wisconsin

This conference was generously supported by the Jim and Julie Caldwell
Banking Professorship Fund and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
             Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

COMMUNITY BANKING IN THE UNITED STATES
         Whitewater Innovation Center
          Wednesday, April 20, 2022
                   Agenda

9:00 - 9:25 am     Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:25 - 9:30 am     Welcome
                   Paul Ambrose, Interim Dean
                   UW-W College of Business & Economics

9:30 - 10:20 am    Regulating the “New” Financial Ecosystem:
                   Clues from Recent Research & Policy Papers
                   (including Federal Reserve Board study on
                   Central Bank Digital Currency)
                   Jim Fuchs, Vice President
                   Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

10:30 - 11:20 am   “Crypto” Innovation: The Future of the U.S.
                   Financial Payments Infrastructure
                   Amalia Estenssoro, Economist
                   Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

11:45 - 12:30 pm   Lunch

12:30 - 1:00 pm    The Intersection of Community Banking &
                   Digital Currency: What the Future Portends
                   Panel Discussion moderated by -
                   Rose Oswald Poels, President
                   Wisconsin Bankers Association

1:10 - 2:00 pm     The Economic and Banking Outlook in
                   Wisconsin and the U.S.
                   Bill Emmons, Lead Economist
                   Supervision, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

2:00 - 2:05 pm     Closing Comments
                   Dr. Russell Kashian, Director
                   UW-W Fiscal & Economic Research Center

Jim Fuchs
                          Vice President
                          Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

                           Despite the proliferation of crypto currencies and
                           crypto assets globally, the regulatory community has
                           yet to implement a common set of rules and
                           standards. Jim Fuchs will discuss some of the research
                           that is driving many of the conversations on the future
regulatory structure for crypto asset firms, stablecoin issuers and other financial
products and services built on blockchain infrastructure and offered through
decentralized communities.
Jim Fuchs is a vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, overseeing
the operations of the bank’s Applications, Credit, Reserves, Statistics, Business
Line Training Services, Competitive Analysis, Digital Transformation Consulting,
Supervision Policy, Research and Analysis, and Supervision Outreach units. He
also oversees national outreach programs for community bankers and is a
member of several Federal Reserve System workgroups focused on community
banking issues. Fuchs received his MBA from the University of Missouri-St. Louis
and his Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is also a
graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

                          Amalia Estenssoro
                          Senior Economist
                          Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

                          St. Louis Federal Reserve Senior Economist Amalia
                          Estenssoro will discuss recent innovations in
                          “crypto” as an asset class and the risks posed by its
                          rapid adoption. She will discuss the evolution of
                          financial technology innovations in the banking
system, the regulatory responses to such innovation, and the challenges new
crypto technology can pose to the US financial system. She will also discuss
the Federal Reserve’s recent discussion paper on Central Bank Digital
Currencies and contrast the US approach to other countries’ adoption of a
variety of CBDC designs.
Amalia Estenssoro is a Senior Economist with the Supervisory Policy and Risk
Analysis in the Supervision Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis.
Prior to joining the Bank, she was an economist and strategist for Emerging
Markets at global investment banks both in London and New York, as well as
a contributor to the Economist Intelligence Unit. Amalia holds a MSc. in
Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE), and a First-Class Hon.
BSc. in Financial Economics from Birbeck College (London University).

Rose Oswald Poels
                             President & Chief Executive Officer
                             Wisconsin Bankers Association

                             Rose Oswald Poels will lead a panel discussion on
                             the impact of digital currency on community banks
                             and client retention.
                              Rose Oswald Poels is the current President/CEO for
                              the Wisconsin Bankers Association, the state’s
largest financial industry trade association. She regularly advocates on behalf of
Wisconsin banks with our congressional delegation as well as our state elected
officials. Regulatory advocacy is also a significant part of her work with state and
federal banking regulators. She routinely speaks to the media, local civic groups
and other organizations about the banking industry and has personally educated
thousands of bankers over her career on a variety of banking compliance topics.
Oswald Poels received her B.A. with honors from Michigan State University and her
JD from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Law School. She is a member of the
State Bar of Wisconsin. She serves as Chair of the Board for WBA’s subsidiaries and
the Wisconsin Bankers Foundation, and is a member of several outside groups
and organizations including: the Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy and
Capability, the Graduate School of Banking and its Prochnow Educational
Foundation, the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, the University of Wisconsin –
Madison Puelicher Center Board and the University of Wisconsin Whitewater
Finance and Business Law Department Advisory Board.
                             Bill Emmons
                             Lead Economist,
                             Division of Supervision
                             Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

                           Bill Emmons will discuss recent inflation, growth
                           and financial market trends and how the Fed’s
                           monetary policy is responding. He will also
analyze current banking conditions in Wisconsin and the U.S. while placing
the competitive environment facing today’s community banks in long-term
perspective.
Bill Emmons is Assistant Vice President and Lead Economist in the Division of
Supervision, Credit and Learning at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He
co-founded and served as the lead economist in the Center for Household
Financial Stability from 2013 to 2020. Emmons received his Ph.D. from the
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and M.S. and B.A.
from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.