News
Senate Appropriations FSGG Subcommittee proposes $30 million (9.3%) increase in FY 2025 funding for CDFI Fund; Bank Enterprise Award remains at $40 million:
"The bill provides $354 million for the CDFI Fund, a $30 million or 9.3% increase over fiscal year 2024, to generate economic growth and provide access to credit and technical assistance to underserved communities across the country. This includes $35 million—a $7 million increase—for the Native CDFI Assistance Program (NACA) to promote access to capital and financial services in Native communities."
Key Findings:
- "Elements of solar financing products and sales processes are identical to those used by predatory subprime lenders in 2007 to target low- and moderate-income and minority borrowers.
- GoodLeap, Sunlight Financial, Mosaic, Sunrun, and Sunnova together account for 80% of the residential solar loan market, according to the most recently available public estimate.
- Solar financing agreements often leave homeowners in a worse economic situation than before the door-to-door salesperson visited them. This solar debt elevates the risk that the consumer will lose their home to bankruptcy or foreclosure.
- The price of the solar system typically is substantially inflated if a consumer finances a system. This allows door-to-door sellers to falsely represent that borrowers are getting financing with a low nominal payment rate when most of the financing cost is hidden in the inflated price of the solar panel system. This markup amount is not revealed to the homeowner, and installers are often forbidden from disclosing the markup."
"Renasant Corporation (NYSE: RNST) ('Renasant') and The First Bancshares, Inc. ('The First') (NYSE: FBMS) jointly announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger, pursuant to which The First will merge with and into Renasant (the 'Merger') in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.2 billion, based on Renasant's closing stock price as of July 26, 2024. The Merger has been approved unanimously by each company's board of directors and is expected to close in the first half of 2025. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals and the approval of Renasant and The First shareholders."
"Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, introduced legislation Thursday seeking to require banks to engage in periodic test borrowing at the Federal Reserve's discount window.
The bill would also require regulators evaluating banks' liquidity preparedness to give lenders credit if they can successfully use the window. The discount window is the Fed's short-term lending facility designed to help banks facing a liquidity crunch.
The bill also outlined ways the Fed needs to modernize discount window operations, including by extending available hours, according to a summary of the legislation shared with Banking Dive."
"At the June 14 Annual Meeting of the NYS CDFI Coalition, we welcomed new board members Dan Fielding of Habitat for Humanity, NYC and Westchester and Lloyd Doaman of Carver Bank.
After serving 6 years as President of the Chair of the Coalition Board, Linda MacFarlane, Executive Director of the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region, stepped down. We thank her for her leadership.
Aisha Benson, CEO of NFF, the Nonprofit Finance Fund, was elected Chair, leaving a vacancy in the Vice Chair position, which was filled by Jessie Lee, Managing Director of Renaissance Economic Development Corporation."
"The Mission Driven Bank Fund today announced its latest investments in Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institution (MDI) banks committed to expanding financial services in underserved communities. The two investments reflect the Fund's aim to help close the racial wealth gap by providing mission-aligned banks with a range of financing instruments and tailored technical services."
Vice Chair Travis Hill spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on changes to the brokered deposit rule and other topics:
"The past year and a half has been a pivotal time for the FDIC. With three of the four largest bank failures in U.S. history, longstanding questions have reemerged about how to address bank runs, and newer questions have emerged regarding how FDIC receiverships are funded. Today, I will offer thoughts on both of these topics, along with views on the FDIC's approach to brokered deposits and a few thoughts on the path forward for the Basel III Endgame proposal."
Rep. French Hill joined the Banking with Interest Podcast to share views on the future of financial services regulation:
"Rep. French Hill, one of the leading candidates to chair the House Financial Services Committee next year, makes his case for the job, discussing how his former role as a bank CEO would help guide his agenda. He talks about why he's worked so hard on crypto and stablecoin regulation bills, his vision for housing reform, the lessons of SVB, the end of Chevron deference, and his concerns on bank consolidation."
"The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 is as special as it is frustrating.
What makes the Community Reinvestment Act special is that, rather than saying what banks shouldn't do, it says what they should do. Specifically, it says that banks 'have continuing and affirmative obligation to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered.'"
"American Banker's Claire Williams writes that despite Harris' stances on past legislative efforts, it remains uncertain how she would tackle future economic matters if elected as the country's first female president. Nevertheless, the next president will possess substantial sway over the course of economic and banking policy in the near future.
Some executives say that it's likely Harris would continue in line with the current administration's direction on banking regulations.
'In contrast to Trump's approach, which favored deregulation and a more hands-off approach, Harris' administration would aim to implement stricter controls and oversight to protect consumers and ensure financial stability,' said Rick Kuci, chief operating officer for the New York-based small business funding fintech FundKite."