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About Compliance Cohort

What is Compliance Cohort

Compliance cohort is an online education site designed to assist compliance professionals in banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, and the other trenches that compliance folk live.  Using our "virtual classroom" approach, we deliver quality compliance training in an on-demand format.  While our site contains many public articles, videos, regulatory updates and a few other tools, compliance professionals get an even greater value when they become a Cohort Member.

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There is no cost for our basic membership and Cohort Members receive a number of benefits:

  • A weekly summary of regulatory changes

  • Member-only videos

  • Member-only articles

  • Special email alerts

  • Other member-only perks

Basic Membership to the cohort is free! 

How it Works

A cohort is a group of people banded together and working for the same cause.  In banking, regulatory compliance is often a challenging and lonely job as many compliance professionals working in community banks or credit unions feel on their own when it comes to internal support and resources. 

Our vision for Compliance Cohort is to create a place where compliance professionals can get the support they need.  An alliance of sorts.  A place where questions can be asked and explanations can be given in layman's terms.

Our Cohort instructors have one main goal: to make life easier for compliance professionals.  This means that we do everything we can to provide simple explanations and application to the complex world of regulatory compliance.

We truly hope that you will become a member of our cohort of compliance professionals just like you.

 

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Adam Witmer - Founder and Senior Cohort Instructor

Early on as a compliance seminar speaker, Adam quickly realized that compliance can become quite boring.  In fact, there probably isn't a more mundane topic than regulatory compliance.  Yet, Adam likes to have fun and even enjoys a bit of comedy now and then.  So when attendees were falling asleep in his very first seminar years ago, he knew he had to do something different.

Today, Adam takes a three part approach to compliance instruction: to educate, to empower, and to entertain.  This is achieved by focusing on relevant topics, speaking in simple to understand, layman's terms, and by keeping it light and humorous whenever possible.  Adam has found that this "3-E" approach allow students to learn as quickly and effectively as possible.  And, it adds a little bit of fun to an otherwise dreadful topic. 

A seasoned compliance professional, Adam has experience in all areas of regulatory compliance including BSA, fair lending, deposit compliance, risk management, the SAFE Act. 

As a speaker and former Senior Consultant for a regional consulting firm, Adam has conducted hundreds of training seminars and educational events primarily through his work with many different state banking associations, community banks, and credit unions throughout the Midwest.   Adam teaches on all areas of consumer compliance including BSA, mortgage lending, HMDA, deposit operations, loan operations, CRA, flood insurance, fair lending, hot topics, and advanced compliance management and BSA management. 

A featured speaker at several state banking association conferences in states such as West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Montana, Adam has presented hundreds of seminars to thousands of bankers in many different states throughout the US.  In addition to this, Adam is a former faculty member of the Community Bankers School and has been a regular guest lecturer at Indiana University- Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW).

As a consultant, Adam has conducted compliance reviews in all areas of consumer compliance and has helped to establish efficient and effective compliance programs in many community banks. One of his specialties is effective management of a compliance program, including developing compliance programs through the utilization of compliance councils, efficient processes, and formalized systems.

Adam's experience includes developing and managing the Compliance Management System (CMS) for several different banks, providing key note speeches, building and coaching compliance teams, working with senior management and boards of directors, conducting multi-day seminars, evaluating and redesigning compliance programs, mentoring compliance staff, and conducting compliance audits.

Adam is currently a VP at a small community bank in Northern Indiana where he heads up the risk management, compliance, and audit programs.  He has also held positions as an AVP and Director of Compliance for a regional multi-bank holding company, a banker at a large national bank, and a loan originator at a mortgage subsidiarity of a regional community bank.  A Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) through the American Bankers Association, Adam earned his bachelors degree at Taylor University and his MBA at Indiana Tech.  He currently resides in Northern Indiana with his wife and three children.  They have a cat named Nacho and a dog named Queso.