News
"The Federal Reserve Board announced on Monday that Michael S. Barr will step down from his position as Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision, effective February 28, 2025, or such earlier time as a successor is confirmed. Barr will continue to serve as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors."
"State Street Corp. completed its $100 million initiative launched earlier in 2024 by placing additional deposits through three Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) — New Orleans, Louisiana-based Liberty Bank and Trust Co., Denver-based Native American Bank NA and Saint Paul, Minnesota-based Sunrise Banks NA.
In February, the company announced a goal to invest $100 million to facilitate low-cost, stable deposit funding to MDIs and CDFIs. State Street said the investment aligns with its broader business strategy to expand the financial market ecosystem and promote economic potential through long-term growth and job creation."
"Evan Weinberger, the banking reporter at Bloomberg Law, talks about the Trump administration's trial balloon to eliminate the FDIC or combine regulatory agencies. He also goes in-depth on the various fights the CFPB is engaged in, how the Trump administration could choose to tackle them, and what that would mean for banks."
"The Mission Driven Bank Fund (MDBF) today announced that all seven portfolio banks are actively participating in its technical services program, which provides targeted support to the Fund's portfolio banks to build organizational capacity. The participation rate is well above the program's 75% goal.
All MDBF portfolio banks have access to the technical services program upon a capital investment. The program, designed to be collaborative, has two key goals. The first is to promote sustainability by strengthening the bank's financial performance and building staff capacity. The second is to help banks better serve their communities by deepening or growing their existing clients, expanding service areas, and/or investing in technology to improve the customer experience."
"House Republican leaders on Thursday choose Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) to lead the House Financial Services Committee in the 119th Congress...
Hill was selected to lead the Financial Services panel, over Reps. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), according to two sources in the room of leaders who made the decision. Hill won on the second ballot after Lucas dropped off on the first ballot, one source said."
"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) amends Regulations E and Z to update regulatory exceptions for overdraft credit provided by very large financial institutions, thereby ensuring that these extensions of overdraft credit adhere to consumer protections required of similarly situated products, unless the overdraft fee is a small amount that only recovers estimated costs and losses. The rule allows consumers to better comparison shop across credit products and provides substantive protections that apply to other consumer credit."
"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a final overdraft rule that caps overdraft fees at $5 for the largest banks. The sweeping rule immediately drew a legal challenge from bank trade groups.
The CFPB said in a final rule issued Thursday, that it will reclassify overdraft fees as loans subject to interest rate disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act. The rule would apply only to the largest banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets, impacting roughly 175 financial institutions.
The Consumer Bankers Association said late Thursday that it is jointly pursuing legal action against the CFPB with the American Bankers Association, America's Credit Unions, Mississippi Bankers Association and three banks directly affected by the rule."
"The Trump transition team has started to explore pathways to dramatically shrink, consolidate or even eliminate the top bank watchdogs in Washington.
In recent interviews with potential nominees to lead bank regulatory agencies, President-elect Donald Trump's advisers and officials from his newfound Department of Government Efficiency have, for example, asked whether he could abolish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., people familiar with the matter said.
Advisers have asked the nominees under consideration for the FDIC, as well as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, if deposit insurance could then be absorbed into the Treasury Department, some of the people said."
"The Mission Driven Bank Fund today announced an investment in FNBC Bancorp, Inc., a community development financial institution (CDFI) bank committed to expanding financial services in underserved communities in Arkansas and Missouri. The investment adds to the growing portfolio of banks that demonstrate the Fund's commitment to help the underserved by providing mission-aligned banks with a range of investment instruments and subsidized technical services tailored to their needs.
FNBC Bancorp, Inc. will use the capital to expand its geographic footprint and scope in North-Central Arkansas and Southern Missouri. Bank leaders hope to grow their current products to increase credit access in underserved populations, primarily through their First Chance Mortgage Program and Small Dollar Loan Program."
"Federally assisted rental housing relies on subsidies that help housing providers build, operate and maintain affordable homes, according to the report. These federal project-based subsidies support over 5 million homes, or 10% of the nation's rental housing stock.
The report highlights threats to this type of housing: Although the U.S. added more than 104,000 homes to its federally assisted housing stock in recent years, it lost more than 71,000 such homes. Affordability restrictions are set to expire for more than 374,000 federally assisted homes in the next five years, and about 267,000 public housing homes failed recent inspections, meaning they likely require immediate investment."