Community Development Banking News
CDFI Banking: Industry, Policy, and Beyond.
"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The shift to online banking has made a reliance on branch networks for CRA evaluations outdated, Warren and Waters said.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 regulators from doing so is unjustified and harmful,' the two lawmakers said in their letter, obtained by Bloomberg Law."
"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 hour of the meeting was dedicated to a roundtable discussion about business loan underwriting, led by Danielle Ware of Hope Credit Union and Charlie Breedlove and Lawrence Johnson of Friend Bank. These executives outlined their innovative and solutions-based underwriting processes and services."
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 housing, and supporting critical community services.
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 programs of the CDFI Fund.
'I am pleased to congratulate and welcome this esteemed group of professionals who share the CDFI Fund's vision of an America in which all people and communities have access to the investment capital and financial services they need to prosper,' said CDFI Fund Director Pravina Raghavan."
"'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 and training services such as credential and certificate programs,' notes the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in their Community Conditions section of the most recent Beige Book."
"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," Mjartan said.'"
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.