The priorities of the South Florida Banking Institute are to host meetings, seminars and panel discussions on educational issues of interest for the South Florida banking community and to provide a forum for networking opportunities to our members and guests.

We have been able to achieve these priorities throughout our five decades of service to the South Florida banking community by presenting educational programs on very relevant banking issues. Some of the topics presented at our recent meetings have included discussions on technology issues involving disaster recovery, regulatory issues on subject matters like the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Commercial Real Estate (CRE) concerns, as well as discussions on operational challenges banks face in today's changing environment.

As part of our effort to offer relevant topical issues to South Florida bankers, we have partnered with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to present an excellent BSA/AML Regulatory Panel Discussion with speakers from the Federal Reserve Bank, OCC, FDIC and the Office of Financial Regulation. We have held this well attended BSA/AML Regulatory Panel Discussion meeting for two consecutive years and our next panel is tentatively scheduled for October 2007.

The monthly meetings and networking events give all attendees an opportunity to share and learn from each other. Some members of the South Florida Banking Institute as well as some meeting attendees include vendors serving the banking industry. This gives us an opportunity to become aware of new products and services to make our banks more efficient and profitable. Our sponsors create tremendous value for all attendees by demonstrating how their products can help a bank achieve its goals.

As President of the South Florida Banking Institute and on behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to thank all of the individuals and organizations that have contributed to success of the South Florida Banking Institute. We look forward to another successful year of excellent educational programs and to another outstanding year of increasing our knowledge and meeting new friends.

Sincerely,
Dominic Suszek
President

South Florida Banking Institute 2007