News
Technology consulting service Impact Makers has given ownership of the company to Virginia Community Capital and The Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia. The 75 employee company has previously won acclaim for donating all of its profits to charitable causes. The total value of the equity gift to the two organizations is about $11.5 million. Virginia Community Capital will own 30 percent of the stock, while The Community Foundation will own 70 percent. “It is truly rare that a business would give away its economic value to help the community, but that is what Michael Pirron and Impact Makers did,” said Terri Lovelace, senior vice president for community investments and impact at Virginia Community Capital.
Beneficial State Bank, Sunrise Banks and Virginia Community Capital were recognized by B Lab's Best for the World 2015 List in both the Overall and Best for Communities categories. The list honors companies that create the most positive impact for their environment, their communities and their employees. Virginia Community Capital was commended for its commitment to local, sustainable and fair trade suppliers. Beneficial State Bank was noted for its dedication to environmental sustainability and for giving more than 50% of its corporate profits to charity. Sunrise Banks was praised for its local majority ownership and its excellence in tracking impact lending performance.
Noah Bank has completed a capital raise resulting in approximately $10.96 million of net proceeds to the bank. Of the shares of common stock sold in the offering, 1,210,000 were sold to “friends and family” through the efforts of Noah Bank CEO Edward Shin. The remaining shares of common stock and subordinated shares were sold to several institutional investors. “We are very pleased to complete this capital raise,” said bank chairman Young Man Kim. “This is a demonstration of the support that Noah Bank enjoys in the local community, as well as the institutional market.”
The New York Times this week featured a debate on the role of social goals in the profit-oriented corporate environment. David Yosifon of the Santa Clara University School of Law writes that Delaware corporate law holds that directors must make stockholder welfare their sole end, a premise which Lynn Stout of Cornell Law rebuts. She writes that the malleability of “shareholder interest” affords directors ample leeway for incorporating social goals. Stephen Bainbridge of the U.C.L.A. School of Law writes that enforcing shareholder wealth maximization is the only concrete way to ensure accountability. But Tamara Belinfanti of the New York Law School and Jean Rogers of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board argue that the division between profit and social good is an illusion, as social goals can produce positive business outcomes.
Cybercriminals are increasingly taking advantage of the online payday marketplace to steal people's account information and use it to drain their savings, apply for credit cards or perform other forms of theft. Cybersecurity company IntelCrawler obtained several databases from a seller on a hacking forum who claims to have access to lending information on more than 105 million people. Bloomberg News contacted dozens of individuals listed in the databases and confirmed that their data came from payday loan applications. In September, the Federal Trade Commission halted a scam in which scammers allegedly bought payday loan data and deposited $28 million into victims' bank accounts for loans they didn't ask for—and took out more than $46 million in finance charges and other fraudulent fees.
The CDFI Fund has opened applications for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. Through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, certified CDFIs or their designees issue bonds guaranteed by the Federal government, using the proceeds to extend capital for community development financing. Qualified issuer applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 5, 2015. Guarantee applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 12, 2015. The CDFI Fund will conduct a two-day application workshop for potential applicants regarding the qualified issuer and guarantee application requirements on April 30 and May 1, 2015 at the CDFI Fund's office in Washington, D.C.
Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas could see an increase in job growth through a new, $1 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to San Antonio-based LiftFund, over $200,000 of which will go to Communities Unlimited and Southern Bancorp Capital Partners. The grant will benefit the Delta Community Capital Initiative, a program designed to stimulate job growth and produce more affordable housing and business opportunities to the chronically underserved and undercapitalized Lower Mississippi River Delta Region. The initiative provides direct investment and technical assistance to community development lending and investing institutions that focus on affordable housing, small businesses and community facilities.
United Bank of Atmore, Ala. is encouraging consumers and small business owners to bank locally in recognition of Community Banking Month. “By shopping local and banking locally with United Bank, customers can make a real difference in the lives of their neighbors and the future of their community,” said Bob Jones, president and CEO of United Bank. “The loans we make help businesses grow and farmers and families be successful.” United Bank will also celebrate community banking throughout the spring as a sponsor of a number of local community events and by supporting financial literacy education in elementary schools by participating in the Teach Children to Save program.
A Federal Reserve Board report finds that use of mobile phones to access bank accounts, credit cards and other financial accounts continued to increase last year. As of December 2014, 39 percent of adults with mobile phones and bank accounts reported using mobile banking—an increase from 33 percent a year earlier. The most common use of mobile banking is to view account balances and recent transactions, followed by transferring money between accounts. Fifty-one percent of mobile banking users reported depositing a check using their mobile phones, up from 38 percent a year earlier. While the underbanked make up 14 percent of consumers, 90 percent of that group has access to a mobile phone. The unbanked make up 13 percent of consumers and 67 percent have access to a mobile phone.
Bankers from three CDBA member banks and one other CDFI bank have been elected to leadership positions on the board of the Mississippi Bankers Association. Kent Mortimer, senior vice president/credit officer at Bank of Kilmichael, has been elected vice president. Jerome Brown, senior vice president and director of community development for The First, A National Banking Association in Hattiesburg, has been elected to the executive council. Adam Cox, community bank president with BankFirst Financial Services in Madison, has been elected to the executive council. Wes Rouse, vice president and commercial lender of Hattiesburg-based CDFI bank Magnolia State Bank has been elected treasurer.