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Butcher may be weary-eyed, but prepared for HORNE’s Series

SEPTEMBER 2010

From the Mississippi Business Journal

CPA Rusty Butcher is doing something perhaps no one else in Mississippi is doing: reading the entire 2,200-page Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

It's not drudgery, but nor is it close to recreational reading, said Butcher, a partner in the Ridgeland-based HORNE CPA and Business Advisors firm. The summer reading is part of his preparation for the HORNE firm's forums Sept. 22 in Biloxi and Sept. 29 in Memphis.  Register for Bankers' Forum here. 

By mid-August, Butcher had reached the 800-page mark of the complex legislation. He said he will soldier on until he completes the reading, no matter its tediousness.

Meanwhile, as HORNE's director of financial institution services, Butcher is in charge of putting together the program for the twin forums. Each is expected to draw about 60 professionals from the financial services sector, including CEOs, CFOs and internal audit directors, he said.

HORNE added the Biloxi forum to make the educational sessions more convenient to financial professionals from South Mississippi.

Participants are expected to arrive with lots of questions about the landmark banking reform Congress passed and President Obama signed into law in late July. "There's still a lot of uncertainty about it," Butcher said in a recent interview. "We'll spend a lot of time" on it.

Butcher said his goal for the forum is to inform, to explain, "What's in the act. What they need to be thinking about."

Federal regulators will engage in much rule-making in the months ahead. Completion of that process and the studies that will accompany it should bring the banking reform into sharper focus, Butcher said.

While the new law is still evolving, it will right away influence how financial institutions of all sizes do business, Butcher noted. "Absolutely, this will impact banks of all sizes. The stuff that's already spelled out has enormous potential" for change.

"Pretty much every bank without exception has to make changes to the way they are doing things."

Biloxi's Beau Rivage Hotel & Casino, 875 Beach Blvd., will host the daylong Sept. 22 forum. The Memphis forum on Sept. 29 will be at the Holiday Inn at the University of Memphis, 3700 Central Avenue.

In addition to banking legislation, both forums will address tax changes, federal and state tax updates, discussions on bank fraud, and accounting hot topics, organizers say. Attendees can earn five hours of complimentary Certified Professional Education (CPE) credit, according to HORNE.

"There have been a few IRS changes that could impact banks," Butcher said. "We want to make sure they understand what can impact them."