Recent News
"The rule will be implemented in phases, with larger providers subject to the rule sooner than smaller ones. Financial firms will be required to comply based on their size; the largest institutions will have to comply by April 1, 2026, while the smallest covered institutions will have until April 1, 2030. Certain small banks and credit unions (those with assets below $850 million) are not subject to the rule."
"Bankers also are concerned that fintechs will use venture capital funding to subsidize lower rates on loans and other products while sending marketing blitzes to steal customers from big banks. Fintechs promise a wide range of financial benefits to low- and moderate-income consumers that bankers say may or may not be real . . . The rule will initially impact the largest banks that for now have just six months to comply. The timeline of staggered four-year compliance dates depending on a bank's size could change in the final rule, some experts say."
"In Congress' last action before Election Day, the Senate cleared a stopgap funding bill Wednesday night that heads off a government shutdown next week, bucking the demands of former President Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden is expected to quickly sign the measure, preventing a funding lapse Tuesday and delaying the government shutdown deadline to Dec. 20. It also punts a potentially bitter funding fight to just before Christmas, with the results hinging on the November elections and which party wins control of the House, Senate and White House."
- Final guidance maintains enhanced scrutiny for:
- Transactions involving nonbanks.
- Pro forma institutions with over $100 billion in assets.
- Institutions with adverse Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) ratings.
- Changes from the proposal include:
- Removal of a statement under the financial resources factor to prevent misinterpretation that a strong IDI would be unable to absorb a weaker one.
- New language clarifying that a merger must reduce financial risk to receive a favorable assessment.
- Slight... Read more
"The industry lawsuit will block what regulators call a necessary update to the rules governing the 1977 law, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a Sunday letter to the Chamber and the ABA. The law measures banks' lending and investments into low- to moderate-income communities based on branch locations.
The shift to online banking has made a reliance on branch networks for CRA evaluations outdated, Warren and Waters said.
'These rules must be updated, and your efforts to stop... Read more
"State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) today announced that it has placed an additional round of deposits through two minority depository institutions (MDIs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Massachusetts-based Leader Bank and Oklahoma-based Local Bank. These placements are the latest installment of the firm's $100 million program that launched earlier this year to facilitate low-cost, stable deposit funding to the communities it serves, and 75% of the funds have been placed."
"Leroy Abrahams, head of Community Engagement at Regions, welcomed the attendees of the third annual Regions Bank CDFI Convening by outlining shared priorities for the leaders in the room. . . .
John Olaimey, President and CEO of Southern Bancorp Bank, led a discussion about the history and primary objectives of CDFIs and how their corporate organizational structure allows them to effectively serve their communities. Olaimey recounted that Southern Bancorp was one of the first CDFIs in existence and talked about their priority to 'balance margin and mission. . .'
The final... Read more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury highlighted several CDBA member banks for their leadership in advancing economic opportunity through the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP). These banks were part of a coalition that lead the way in forging public-private partnerships that bring essential capital to underserved rural and urban communities.
Member banks like First Independence Bank, Asian Bank, Locus Bank, M&F Bank NC, Native American Bank, N.A., Optus Bank, and Southern Bancorp drive Deep Impact Lending, fueling small business growth, expanding access to affordable... Read more
In a speech on September 10th, Fed Governor Barr expressed his intent "to recommend that the Board re-propose the Basel endgame and G-SIB surcharge rules. This will provide the public the opportunity to fully review a number of key, broad, and material changes to the original proposals and provide comment. (The Federal Reserve) will accept public comments on any aspect of the Basel endgame and G-SIB surcharge proposals."
"Rep. Andy Barr, the chair of the House financial institutions subcommittee, discusses why he should lead Republicans on the Financial Services Committee next year. He offers a preview of his agenda, including pushing legislation that would prevent banks from denying legal businesses access to financial services and why large institutions are suddenly supporting it. He also details what changes regulators should make in new Basel III capital rules, how regulatory reform for banks could happen, and why M&A approval rules should be revamped."
CDBA extends our congratulations to members Susan Chapman Plumb of Local Bank and Darrin L. Williams of Southern Bancorp on being appointed an reappointed to the CDFI Fund's Advisory Board!
"Today, the White House announced new appointments by President Biden to the Community Development Advisory Board (the Advisory Board), a 15-person federal advisory committee to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). The function of the Advisory Board is to advise the CDFI Fund's Director on the policies regarding the activities and... Read more
"'Demand for community and support services rose somewhat as individuals and households continued to seek housing, medical, and food assistance. Closures of childcare facilities and recent heat waves in some regions led to higher demand for related support services. Nonprofit organizations faced more difficulties securing funds despite a slight increase in contributions from government sources. Small businesses continued to face challenges with access to credit and sluggish demand in urban cores, forcing some of them to close. One Washington contact noted a rise in demand for educational... Read more
"Optus Bank hasn't grown the way CEO Dominik Mjartan expected it to when he joined the company seven years ago. It's grown differently, and more rapidly, than anyone might have imagined.
The South Carolina-based bank, one of about 20 Black-owned banks in the country, was on "life support" in 2017, Mjartan said. Now, Optus has increased its assets by more than 1,000%, raised over $100 million of equity and chipped its way to a profitable business plan.
So Mjartan is stepping down.
'There have been so many moments... over the last year where I thought, "This is the time... Read more
Today, August 29th, CDBA was joined by the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America on a joint national banking trades letter to the CDFI Fund Director. The letter proposes practical solutions to outstanding challenges with the December 2023 certification application and guidance that are of particular importance to the certification of CDFI banks.
The Community Development Bankers Association (CDBA), representing
the nation's leading mission-focused banks, acknowledges the recent federal court ruling that denied the request for summary judgment in the lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) final rule implementing Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Jeannine Jacokes, CEO of CDBA, stated, "CDBA strongly supports efforts to ensure all small businesses are fairly and well served. We welcome the court's ruling to the extent it moves us closer to regulatory certainty and advances the critical... Read more
"A federal court today denied a request for summary judgment in a lawsuit by the American Bankers Association, Texas Bankers Association and others challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small business data collection rule. In his decision, Judge Randy Crane ruled that the CFPB did not exceed its authority in issuing the rule, nor did it violate the Administrative Procedure Act, or APA, which governs how agencies develop regulations. ABA and TBA plan to appeal the case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals."
"The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced new actions to provide more interest rate certainty for state and local Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) that use the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) risk sharing initiative with the Federal Financing Bank to finance new construction of affordable housing. Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has been committed to using all available tools to boost the supply of affordable homes and lower housing costs for all Americans. This whole-of-government effort is outlined... Read more
"It's no secret that our nation faces a massive housing affordability crisis. With soaring rents and home prices shutting the door to homeownership for moderate- and middle-income families, this has truly become an emergency. Historically, community development financial institutions have played only a small role in housing finance outside of a few large entities supporting traditional affordable housing projects. However, current circumstances have created an opportunity for CDFIs to significantly impact the housing crisis through new and innovative approaches."
"Our institution continues to raise the bar for what mission-focused community development banks can accomplish, as well as for the impacts we can create for underserved communities. In 2022, we set out to lay the groundwork for an ambitious five-year plan to double in size and impact, which we've dubbed our Delivering Impactful Growth Strategic Roadmap. Last year, that foundational planning was put into action, momentum that will help propel us through the remaining five years of this growth plan.
Thanks to our employees at every level, some of whom in positions and divisions that... Read more
Treasury urges Federal Home Loan banks to spend more on affordable housing:
"On July 31, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo met with the leadership of the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Sandra Thompson, to discuss what steps the FHLBs can take to better support the development of affordable housing.
During the meeting, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo urged the FHLBs to deploy more of the significant resources at their disposal to expand housing supply in service of their public mission. Specifically,... Read more