Recent News
Promontory Financial Group has announced the winners of its first annual Empowerment Awards, a new program... Read more
The CDFI Fund is issuing a call for personnel to serve as application reviewers for the FY 2015 round of the CDFI Program and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program). The CDFI Fund requires reviewers and alternates to have considerable expertise in the community and economic development finance sectors. Prior experience serving as a successful CDFI Program or NACA Program application reviewer is preferred, but is not required. The CDFI Fund is accepting applications ... Read more
New York City residents are giving rave reviews to Spring Bank. "I've been in New York more than 30 years doing business with all the banks—Chase, Citi, all of them—and they never cared about me. But my bank now, it is a lovely bank,” said Bronx poultry salesman Hamad Ali. Spring provides real estate loans for business like Mr. Ali’s as well as a payday loan alternative called Borrow and Save. "Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people in the Bronx alone need financial services that they just don't have access to in the banking environment," said Brian Blake, Spring... Read more
Minnesota's Finance & Commerce Magazine has named Sunrise Banks Vice President of Business Development Terri Banaszewsk and University Financial Corporation President Nichol Beckstrand among the top women in Minnesota finance. University Financial Corp. hired Beckstrand as its chief operating officer in 2006. When University, Park Midway, and Franklin National banks merged in 2013 to become Sunrise Banks, Beckstrand led... Read more
The CFPB has proposed new rules designed to expand foreclosure protections for mortgage borrowers, building on the mortgage servicing rules that went into effect earlier this year. Chief among the new measures would be a requirement that servicers provide additional foreclosure protections to borrowers who have previously worked through the loss mitigation process and recovered. Current rules require servicers to offer borrowers certain protections, including the right to be evaluated under CFPB requirements for foreclosure avoidance options, just once during the life of the mortgage. The... Read more
Community bankers are raising concerns about President Barack Obama’s pick for Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, investment banker Antonio Weiss. Camden Fine, president of community banking trade group ICBA has expressed “serious concerns” with the nomination. Fine said he’s worried Mr. Weiss, an experienced Wall Street deal maker, doesn’t understand the needs of small and mid-size banks. The opposition adds to mounting pressure against Weiss’ nomination. Two prominent Democrats, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), have publicly... Read more
Carver Bancorp, Inc. has announced that Deborah C. Wright will retire as CEO to be replaced by Michael Pugh. Pugh, currently the company's president and COO, joined the company as chief revenue officer in 2012 and became president and COO in 2013. Wright will continue to serve as the company's non-executive chairman of the board. She will also join the Ford Foundation’s Economic Opportunity and Assets program. "I am honored to serve as Carver's CEO and I join the board in thanking Debbie for her leadership and contributions to our organization over the past 15 years,”... Read more
Community Bank and Peoples Bank ranked in the SBA Mississippi District’s top five lenders by dollar volume of loans. In fiscal year 2014, a total of 412 SBA loans were approved for $153.3 million in the Mississippi district. Almost 56% of the loans backed were to underserved markets. “This could not have happened without the participation of our various lending partners,” said Janita R. Stewart, SBA Mississippi District Director. “Access to capital is the key element for small businesses to grow and prosper.” The SBA Mississippi District Office will... Read more
Bankers have begun to show cautious interest in a proposal to offer banking services in post office branches after U.S. Postal Service Inspector General David Williams clarified that the plan would be a partnership with banks rather than head-to-head competition. Williams envisions the Postal Service providing a marketplace platform that private-sector financial institutions could use to offer competing prepaid cards and other financial products. "The platform would be open to everyone — banks, credit unions and the credit card industry," he said. But the postal banking concept still faces... Read more
Thirteen Chicago area financial services firms including Urban Partnership Bank have joined together to explore ways to get more black and Latino workers into the industry. Minorities are underrepresented in financial services; more than 90 percent of senior-level staffers at Chicago-area financial services firms are white according to a 2012 survey. In addition to hosting a conference on boosting minority hires, the group is conducting research to identify challenges to hiring black and Latino workers and identifying ways that their hiring can be increased. The group also... Read more
Industrial Bank celebrated its 80th year with a reception featuring a number of Washington, D.C. luminaries. At the celebration, Industrial officials announced the bank is offering five grants totaling $80,000 for new businesses looking to invest in long-term success. Current Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray presented Industrial Bank President and CEO Doyle Mitchell with a proclamation from the city recognizing the bank's service to its communty. Mayor-Elect Muriel Bowser also spoke at the event, thanking Industrial Bank for its work and stressing the importance of... Read more
New York City's Carver Federal Savings Bank announced two appointments designed to strengthen the Bank's lending and community development team. Blondel A. Pinnock, formerly the president of Carver Community Development, was promoted to Chief Lending Officer, Senior Vice President. In her new role, Pinnock will be responsible for the leadership and day-to-day management of the bank's loan production department. Takisia Whites was appointed President of Carver Community Development and will also continue in her current role as Non-Profit Team Leader in the Bank's Lending... Read more
The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation highlighted the work of Southern Bancorp, Inc. CEO Darrin Williams as part of their Forty Years Forty Leaders For Arkansas series. The videos highlight impact-oriented leaders in Arkansas who increase prosperity, encourage educational attainment, strengthen communities and build the state's nonprofit infrastructure. "So many of the communities that we serve have been abandoned by traditional financial institutions as big banks consolidate and leave small towns and as small banks are burdened by regulatory pressures... Southern wants to... Read more
A cap on the amount payday lenders can charge their customers has been announced by the United Kingdom's financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Payday loan rates will be capped at 0.8% per day of the amount borrowed. In total, no one will have to pay back more than twice what they borrowed, and there will be a £15 ($24) cap on default charges. The new cap means borrowers who fail to pay back on time can be charged a maximum of £15, plus a maximum of 0.8% a day in interest and fees. “For people who struggle to repay, we believe the new rules will put an end to spiraling... Read more
Employees and customers of Industrial Bank celebrated the Washington-based lender's 80th anniversary Monday night. To commemorate the anniversary, Industrial is offering five grants totaling $80,000 for new small businesses angling for long-term success. The effort is being supported by the U.S. Black Chambers Inc., FSC First of Prince Georges County, Operation HOPE and the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. "The mission is still the same," said Industrial Bank President and CEO Doyle Mitchell. "There are... Read more
The Treasury Department and financial crime-fighting agency Financial Crimes Enforcement Network sought to assuage critics who say their blunt enforcement actions against money laundering have caused banks to cut ties with entire business sectors, such as check cashers. The regulators said banks should evaluate the risks associated with opening their doors to money service businesses on a case-by-case basis. Critics say the money-laundering enforcement, along with the so-called "Operation Chokepoint" fraud crackdown, have fueled the "de-risking" trend. Treasury has promised a deeper level... Read more
Mark Ricca, President and CEO of First American International Bank, has announced the appointment of new CFO Neil Hecht. "[Neil] brings over 30 years of banking experience to First American International Bank, with proven skills in strategic business planning, financial management and investments. Prior to joining First American International, Neil worked at First National Bank of Santa Fe as CFO, Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer where he led all aspects of the bank’s financial management and investments... Previously, Neil worked with CIT, Inc. as CFO of its Energy... Read more
Urban Partnership Bank, launched in 2010 to take over the assets of ShoreBank after its failure, suffered a $28 million loss through the first nine months of 2014. The primary reason: a $24 million writedown this year on the value of the bank's 10-year agreement with the FDIC to share losses on bad ShoreBank loans. Despite the losses, the bank has maintained sensitivity to its community as it works through ShoreBank's bad loans. That has meant restructuring loans that in other circumstances might have been resolved more quickly with seizure of collateral. The bank has also... Read more
OneUnited Bank CEO Kevin Cohee has urged regulators to take a more nuanced approach to evaluating minority-owned banks in the wake of the bank's recently announced “Needs to Improve” Community Reinvestment Act rating. In its report, the FDIC knocked OneUnited, which operates in Boston, Miami and Los Angeles, for insufficient lending in its Boston and Miami markets. Cohee argued that minority-owned banks should not be measured the same way a large bank is judged on community lending. “We do not think the report is fair or accurate,’’ Cohee said. Loans in low income areas, “... Read more
Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayopoulos has provided new details on regulators’ plans to boost mortgage lending, expanding on Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Melvin Watt’s comments that Fannie and Freddie would back loans with down payments as low as 3 percent of the home's value. Mayopoulos expects Fannie’s low-down-payment mortgages to cost the borrower less than Federal Housing Administration loans. But he also said Fannie’s loans would require private mortgage insurance on top of the down payment, which could limit the size of the program. It is not clear whether private mortgage... Read more