Recent News
A new report from The Food Trust of Virginia documents access to healthy and affordable food in Virginia. Virginia Community Capital has played a key role in the effort to bring healthy foods to communities across the state with its Virginia Fresh Food Loan Fund (VFFLF), a $10 million fund to address the unmet capital needs of healthy food enterprises throughout rural and urban regions in Virginia. The VFFLF seeks to improve access to healthy foods while also bolstering local businesses and creating jobs. The initiative comes at a time when more than 1.7 million Virginia... Read more
Wall Street banks are scaling back their role in supporting debt sales that have helped online lending companies double their originations every year since 2010. Historically, investment banks have earned fees by helping lenders pool and store their loans until enough are aggregated for sale to investors. But now, a number of Wall Street firms are considering limits to their financing for companies that lend to higher-risk borrowers. The caution comes in response to a May ruling by the U.S. Appeals Court in Manhattan, which threatens to remove a protection that non-bank lenders have relied... Read more
OneUnited Bank and BankPlus were recognized last week in ICBA's Top Community Bank Leaders in Social Media list. More than 6,000 community banks throughout the nation were eligible to be part of the list and nearly 300 banks were nominated. Community banks were chosen based on their engagement with fans and followers, the content distributed on their social media platforms, the number of followers they have and the frequency of posting new content. “It is an honor for us to be recognized by ICBA for our efforts on social media because we see it as a unique... Read more
Banks that remain in the Troubled Asset Relief Program face limited options for exiting the nearly seven-year-old initiative. The Treasury Department still holds securities in 21 banks, compared to 707 when the program was at its height. The ranks have shrunk as banks exit the program or have their shares auctioned off to private investors. Now, many of the banks remaining in the portfolio are the more challenging prospects. "Treasury is continuing to implement the three-pronged exit strategy" for Tarp, a Treasury spokesman said. "That strategy includes waiting for those banks that are... Read more
Alden McDonald, President and CEO of CDFI Bank Liberty Bank says the Hurricane Katrina recovery in New Orleans is far from complete. Despite a rising narrative of a recovery that has transcended racial boundaries, a black homeowner was more than three times more likely than a white one to live in a flooded part of town — and the legacy of that disparity lingers on. Today, there are still 100,000 fewer black residents living in New Orleans than at the time of Katrina. In the aftermath of the storm, Liberty committed itself to getting its customers back on their feet, with generous grace... Read more
City National Bank of New Jersey in Newark has completed a $20 million recapitalization. The $257 million-asset bank raised capital from several investors including Skopos Impact Fund, Prudential Insurance Co. of America and Industrial Bank of Washington, D.C. The recapitalization will allow City National to continue as a certified CDFI. “For more than four decades, City National Bank has worked to revitalize urban areas. We are excited that a number of top-tier impact investors have deemed our efforts worthy of support,” said City National Bank President... Read more
Urban Partnership Bank of Chicago is in discussions with the FDIC on a buyout of two agreements under which the agency shares losses on hundreds of millions of old ShoreBank loans still on UPB's books, according to sources familiar with the matter. Urban Partnership hopes the buyout will allow it to secure enough cash to shore up its capital base. When the FDIC seized ShoreBank and transferred its assets and deposits to newly created Urban Partnership in 2010, the agency agreed to share losses on ShoreBank's commercial and residential loans, an arrangement scheduled to... Read more
A new profile of The Bank of Kilmichael tells how a family owned community bank is bringing tailored financial services to small towns in Mississippi. The Bank of Kilmichael was formed in 1904 and has been in the hands of the Mortimer family for four generations. It is the kind of Southern hospitality bank where employees know their customers by name. “The bank’s employees have remained loyal to that friendly customer service,” said Buddy Mortimer, president and CEO of the bank. “As a certified CDFI, we have demonstrated a track record of effectively serving these un-... Read more
CDBA member Virginia Community Capital seeks a community programs and impact manager to oversee the implementation, management and supervision of the bank’s advisory services and community programs. This position works to identify, build and implement programs to support VCC’s mission based lending. Among other duties, this person also manages research projects evaluating VCC’s community impact.
National Community Investment Fund (NCIF) has opened registration for the 2015 NCIF Development Banking Conference to be held November 19 and 20 in Chicago, Illinois. The conference will bring together representatives of mission based banks, involved regulators and interested investors. The topic of this year's conference is "The Impact We Make" and will revolve around defining the future of the mission-oriented banking industry, reimagining business models, social impact metrics and innovative strategies for success. Register for the conference... Read more
Housing mobility, the idea of moving poor families into wealthier neighborhoods where they have access to better schools and services, has been gaining traction in recent weeks. The Supreme Court upheld a decision that forced the state of Texas to shift the construction of affordable housing to areas where little such housing exists. President Obama released a new rule for the way HUD distributes housing money, requiring regions to more carefully integrate their housing stock. But housing integration has downsides. Building new affordable housing in wealthy areas takes investment away from... Read more
A federal judge has overturned a New York City law that required banks to disclose their investments in local communities. The law was designed to pressure banks by asking for data relating to small-business lending, efforts to prevent foreclosures, affordable housing lending and branches in low-income communities – requirements that went beyond the Community Reinvestment Act. The law applied to 21 banks eligible to hold the city’s municipal deposits. The New York City Banking Commission considered the information when deciding where to park deposits, incenting banks to invest more in... Read more
The CDFI Fund will co-host a webinar discussing how CDFIs can engage in the emerging field of Pay for Success programs on August 13, 2015 at 4:00 PM EST. Pay for Success programs aim to address social issues such as homelessness, recidivism and educational disparities. Through the Pay for Success platform, private investors such as CDFIs, commercial investors or individuals pay up-front for social services. The government pays investors a return if and only if these services deliver their intended results. Advance registration for the webinar must be completed by August 11. Register for... Read more
New York City's Carver Federal Savings Bank highlighted its efforts to expand wealth enhancement opportunities in low income communities in its 2014 Annual Report. Carver is the largest African-American bank in the country. The bank expanded lending in 2014, with an overall 5% growth in loans to $410 million. Carver has helped create 2,597 jobs using $149 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations. The bank has focused on providing financial services to those who need it most with 90% of loan originators within Carver’s assessment area and a $3.34 million lending total... Read more
A CFPB report finds that consumers who closed their mortgage using electronic platforms (eClosing) not only found the electronic process more efficient, but also were better educated about their mortgages than borrowers who used paper forms. The report shows that the electronic tools accessible in the eClosing process have the potential to educate consumers and give them more time to review their documents, resulting in increased comprehension of the mortgage product. The report found that eClosing had a particular advantage over paper forms in providing early document review and... Read more
Finance and Thrift Company of Porterville, California and fellow CDFI bank Pan American Bank of Los Angeles have announced the completion of their merger in an all stock transaction. The combined entity will operate under the Pan American name and be headquartered in Los Angeles. The merger will create a bank with total assets of $155.2 million and total capital of $36.9 million. The bank will maintain a fully bilingual staff and operate six branch offices in Southern California. “The new Pan American Bank reflects our continued commitment to building value for our... Read more
Technology could address the economic exclusion experienced by many disabled Americans, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said at a recent meeting of the National Disability Institute. Gruenberg cited a 2013 FDIC Survey that found one in five unbanked or underbanked households is headed by an individual with disabilities. Half of these households rely on alternative financial services. Gruenberg emphasized the importance of providing banking services to households headed by disabled consumers and encouraged bankers to explore technological solutions for disabled consumers such mobile banking... Read more
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), may hold up President Obama’s nominees for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors over the president’s lack of action in nominating a vice chairman of supervision to the Fed. The vice chairman’s role is to ensure accountability of the central bank’s oversight of the largest financial firms. But the position has stood empty for five years and Hill Republicans say the vacancy prevents Congress from exercising oversight of the Fed. The two Federal Reserve Board of Governors nominees awaiting confirmation are University of Michigan... Read more
A bill passed by the Senate last week proposes to reduce bank dividends from the Federal Reserve in order to fund U.S. highways. The plan, which will require House approval before taking effect, finances interstates in part by cutting the Federal Reserve dividend paid to banks with more than $1 billion in assets from 6 percent to 1.5 percent. The bill also provides a six-year outline for spending on roads, bridges and mass transit projects and renews the Export-Import Bank. The Senate Bill faces opposition from the banking sector for its changes to Fed dividends and from Republicans who... Read more
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left its key interest rate near zero but signaled it remains on course to raise interest rates in September or later this year, citing progress in the U.S. job market. The Fed said that, although the labor market had improved, there is lingering concern about low inflation. Central to the Fed’s thinking is how it perceives its progress in achieving its “dual mandate” of maximum employment and inflation near 2 percent. The Fed has said it will raise rates when it has seen improvement in the job market and becomes “reasonably confident” inflation is on course... Read more