Harrisburg, PA - Today, Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities Secretary Wendy Spicher congratulated students from Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania for winning first place in the nationwide Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) 2024 Community Bank Case Study Competition. The team partnered with First Citizens Community Bank headquartered in Mansfield, Pa. to prepare a case study.
“On behalf of the department, I'd like to congratulate the students, their faculty advisors, and the bank for all of their hard work,” said Spicher. "The competition is very competitive, so it's particularly gratifying to see that teams from Pennsylvania have placed in the top three spots for five out of the last year six years. Congratulations again, to Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania on a well-deserved win!"
As part of the case study, teams were asked to learn about the closures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank by first selecting a community bank to study, and then determining what lessons their chosen institution learned from those 2023 regional failures. Additionally, teams were asked to determine what makes their selected case study bank different from the institutions that failed in 2023. Moreover, teams were tasked with identifying how their case study bank handles risks through asset and liability management. Teams were also asked to identify their case study bank’s expectations for regulatory and supervisory changes, as well as how their selected institution uses social media in their daily operations.
This year, 27 student teams representing 21 colleges and universities, participated in the competition which offers undergraduate students from all fields of study the opportunity to partner with local community banks to gain first-hand knowledge of the banking industry.
Each student member on the first-place team and their faculty advisors will receive a $1,000 prize and an opportunity to present their case study at this year’s Community Banking Research Conference in St. Louis, Missouri in October 2024. Their work will be published in the annual CSBS Journal of Community Bank Case Studies.
For more information on the Community Bank Case Study Competition, visit www.csbs.org/bankcasestudy.
MEDIA CONTACT: TJ Creedon - DoBSComm@PA.gov
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