Why Become A Member of AABD?

AABD is the sole nonprofit trade association in the United States representing the interests of bank and savings institution directors. Being a member shows your support for AABD’s mission and agenda. The more members that AABD has, the more effective it can be in serving the interests of bank directors.

Our advocacy for bank directors is based on our mission that bank directors should have the right to make good faith business decisions without the threat or risk of personal liability and to be free of onerous regulatory and legislative requirements that interfere with their fundamental fiduciary responsibilities to their banks’ shareholders.

Our support of educational opportunities that are tailored to the needs of bank directors is grounded in the belief that a better educated bank director will likely be a more effective director with less personal liability risk exposure. Our Institute for Bank Director Education affords a bank director a means by which the director may track his or her progress in achieving a certification status. AmTrust, a D&O carrier, has agreed to sponsor our Bank Director Certification Program and provide credits of up to 15% on premiums paid by banks whose board members participate in the Program.

AABD, through IBDE, is the only trade association or educational institution that offers a Core Course to bank directors, consisting of an intensive, in-house six hour instruction on the basics of what a bank director needs to know to be an effective director.

We provide up-to-date information to our members relevant to the performance of their duties and responsibilities as bank directors. Special reports and studies relevant to bank directors are provided without charge or at a substantially lower price than charged to nonmembers.

Upon request by an individual bank whose board members are AABD members, we will conduct a thorough board assessment that can lead to substantial improvements in the functioning and performance of the board of directors, at substantially lower cost than for banks whose directors are not AABD members.

Upon request by an individual bank whose board members are AABD members, we will conduct a Bank Director Liability Check, which is a review of board documents and certain written policies and procedures and interviews of individual board members to identify potential risks of personal liability and a report on what steps the board of directors may take to minimize personal liability of its members. The Bank Director Liability Check is conducted at a substantially lower cost than for banks whose directors are not AABD members.

We do not sell or otherwise make available our membership list to third parties.

Click here for membership applications and to learn more about our different levels of membership.