Recent News
"Black households are less likely to own their home compared to white households, which contributes to the broader Black-white housing wealth gap. But closing the homeownership rate disparity may not fully address the racial wealth difference. Even when they achieve homeownership, Black households are more likely to live in properties considered to be in inadequate condition."
"Today, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (CA-43) announced the formation of the Committee's bipartisan Working Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI), led by Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee Chairman French Hill (AR-02) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08).
The bipartisan AI Working Group will explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting the financial services and housing industries, including the development of new products and services, fraud... Read more
"The Senate failed to override President Biden's veto of a resolution to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small-business data collection rule.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 54-45, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the president's veto last month of a Republican-led resolution to gut the small-business data collection rule under the Congressional Review Act."
"As part of our mission to make the U.S. economy stronger and the financial system more stable for all segments of society, the New York Fed issues periodic reports on credit access for low-income Americans in a series called 'The State of Low-Income America.'
The 2024 report, 'The State of Low-Income America: Credit Access & Housing,' examines low-income households' access to credit, ability to repay loans, and use of mortgage refinancing through Q3 of 2023."
"The federal bank regulatory agencies today jointly issued a overview webinar on the final rule to strengthen and modernize regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
The nearly one-hour video provides an overview of the new CRA rule issued on October 24, 2023, and its objectives. Additional topics in the recording include assessment areas, community development, evaluation framework, performance tests, ratings, data collection and reporting, and applicability dates.
The CRA is a landmark law enacted nearly 50 years ago to encourage banks to help meet the... Read more
"Two years ago, when billions of dollars of equity capital from the U.S. government were awarded to minority banks and community development financial institutions, there was widespread hope that the funding would propel growth at those institutions and eventually help close the racial wealth gap.
Combined with equity investments from the country's largest banks, the massive injection of capital into dozens of minority depository institutions in particular — which have long struggled to build capital with the same success as non-minority banks — was hailed as transformational.
... Read more"A more robust secondary market for loans originated by Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which specialize in lending to low- and moderate-income communities, would give CDFIs greater access to capital, thus allowing them to make more loans. This is why the Community Development team at the New York Fed is researching the secondary market for loans originated by CDFIs and how that market could be expanded."
The OCC has issued a new set of FAQs related to SSBCI 2.0.
"These FAQs address the following topics:
- Reporting on loans to businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
- Regulatory treatment for loans using certain SSBCI-supported credit enhancements.
- Considerations for loans in Indian Country.
- Community Reinvestment Act considerations."
"Another high-profile departure from the House Financial Services Committee underscores the fading power of first-hand banking expertise in Congress.
There's a dwindling number of bankers in Congress, a trend that could hurt policymaking on banking-focused committees, experts said. The upcoming retirement of Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, a former community banker in Missouri, leaves few senior Republicans with direct experience in the industry in high-profile positions on any banking-related committees in the House or Senate."
Southern Bancorp in Little Rock, Arkansas, is among the biggest beneficiaries of the $8.7 billion Emergency Capital Investment Program the Treasury Department unveiled two years ago. Now, CEO Darrin Williams says he's busy putting the $250 million in low-cost equity capital his community bank received to work.
The process has run him a little ragged, Williams admitted in a... Read more
"Jamie Santistevan, senior vice president of risk and compliance for $273 million-asset Native American Bank, N.A., is staying alert to support risk management and compliance. 'First, we're watching changes to the beneficial ownership reporting rules from FinCEN,' he says. 'We're concerned about a lack of specific guidance to both banks and businesses clarifying data collection and reporting requirements.'"
"Spring Bank has only one branch, which is located in the Bronx, New York, but it is a member of the MoneyPass ATM network, which has around 40,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide, and offers fee-free access to Citibank branch ATMs. It also has a highly rated mobile app.
The U.S. Treasury has designated Spring Bank as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), in recognition of the investments and loans the bank makes in low- and moderate-income communities in New York City.
The bank offers competitive yields on checking, savings and money market accounts and CDs.... Read more
"The New York Fed's Educational Comic Book Series brings readers on an out-of-this-world journey to teach about basic economic principles and the Federal Reserve's role in the financial system.
For classroom or independent learning, the series is created for students of all ages, and stimulates curiosity and raises awareness of careers in economics and finance. In addition, lesson plans created for each comic book meet national and state standards for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Comic books are available to students, teachers, and community organizations at no... Read more
"Launching a small business takes capital, and many entrepreneurs who find themselves not eligible for funding from traditional banks turn to CDFIs for financial support. But, CDFIs can also have limited resources and operate under constraints. For instance, they may fund loans but not have the capacity to invest in their own marketing, technology or staff retention.
Scale Link is working to change that."
"A surge in brokered deposits is pushing US banks' wholesale funding near levels that prevailed in 2018 and 2019 as funding costs continue to reset higher.
Brokered deposits, which tend to be high cost and generally do not represent direct customer relationships, increased 7.4% sequentially to $1.295 trillion in the third quarter, making the funding type the largest among wholesale categories, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Overall wholesale funding increased 2.9% to $3.285 trillion."
"United Bank has provided $350,000 in soft financing to The Gateway Companies for the new construction of Hill at Sand Mountain Apartments, a 56-unit multi-family affordable housing complex in Rainsville, Alabama. The soft financing is funded through United Bank's 2020 Capital Magnet Fund award from the CDFI Fund division of the US Treasury Department. United Bank is also providing $2.5 million in construction financing to the project through its participation in Synovus Bank's $11.9 million construction facility."
"Homeownership has become a pipe dream for more Americans, even those who could afford to buy just a few years ago.
Many would-be buyers were already feeling stretched thin by home prices that shot quickly higher in the pandemic, but at least mortgage rates were low. Now that they are high, many people are just giving up."
"Redlining has been around forever, and was even condoned by the government when the Home Owners Loan Corporation published maps circling 'hazardous' neighborhoods that banks should avoid.
Weblining is modern-day redlining by credit card, fintech, internet and other branchless banks paying high rates on the World Wide Web to vacuum up deposits without any required reinvestment."
"From local scout troops to hospitals and housing development organizations, banking nonprofits have turned into big business for many community banks.
At Beneficial State Bank in Oakland, Calif., nonprofits account for 33% of the total client portfolio, encompassing nearly 1,000 different groups. 'It is really an important vertical for us,' says Mary Edmeades, vice president and client treasury manager at the $1.7 billion-asset community bank."
"Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, who made history as the first speaker to be ousted from the post, announced on Wednesday that he would leave the House at the end of the year but said he planned to remain engaged in Republican politics.
Mr. McCarthy's resignation, which he announced in an opinion essay in The Wall Street Journal, will bring to a close a 16-year stint in Congress in which he rose from a member of the self-proclaimed 'Young Guns' — Republicans driving to build their party's majority in the House — to the position second in line to the... Read more