News
Wells Fargo has made a new round of investments in Black-owned banks. The San Francisco company said it has invested in the $52 million-asset Carver State in Savannah, Ga.; the $572 million-asset Citizens Trust in Atlanta; the $287 million-asset First Independence in Detroit; the $765 million-asset Liberty in New Orleans; and the $183 million-asset Unity in Houston.
Sunrise Banks' CEO David Reiling, already leading what aspires to be "The World's Most Socially Responsible Bank," is pursuing that vision on a larger platform as the new chairman of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV). Reiling was named the organization's board chairman as Sunrise Banks hosted the 13th-annual meeting of the GABV. The alliance of 66 international banks and financial cooperatives works to build sustainable, economic, social and environmental development. The meeting took place as a virtual event over two days in March.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), held the inaugural meeting of a new advisory group focused on public policies that support minority depository institutions (MDIs) and community development financial institutions (CDFIs), whose mission includes supporting low- and moderate-income communities, communities of color, and minority-owned businesses. In addition to staff from the offices of Chairwoman Waters, Senator Warner and the Office of Vice President Harris, the participants in the first meeting of the advisory group include: Jeannie Jacokes, Community Development Bankers Association; Robert James, National Bankers Association; Cathie Mahon, Inclusiv; Charles Phillips, Black Economic Alliance; Jennifer Vasiloff, Opportunity Finance Network
Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program in March 2020 as an emergency stopgap for what lawmakers expected to be a few months of sharp economic disruption. But as the pandemic raged on, the program — which made its first loans one year ago this past week — has turned into the largest small-business support program in American history, sending $734 billion in forgivable loans to struggling companies. The program helped nearly seven million businesses retain workers. But it has also been plagued by complex, changing rules at every stage of its existence. And one year in, it has become clear that the program's hasty rollout and design hurt some of the most vulnerable businesses. A New York Times analysis of data from several sources — including the Small Business Administration, which is managing the loan program — and interviews with dozens of small businesses and bankers show that Black- and other minority-owned businesses were disproportionately underserved by the relief effort, often because they lacked the connections to get access to the aid or were rejected because of the program's rules. Southern Bancorp and Beneficial State Bank are mentioned.
The OCC today announced last month the appointment of new members to its Minority Depository Institutions Advisory Committee and the Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee. Joining the council will be Brian Argrett, president and CEO of City First Bank of DC, Washington, D.C.; Jody Lee, chairwoman of Southwestern National Bank, Houston; Beverly Meek, CRA director of Flagstar Bank, Troy, Michigan; Thomas Ogaard, president and CEO of Native American Bank, Denver; Joe Quiroga, president of Texas National Bank, Mercedes, Texas; Kelly Skalicky, president and CEO of Stearns Bank, St. Cloud, Minnesota; and Laurie Vignaud, president and CEO of Unity National Bank, Houston.
The Federal Reserve will conduct a national survey of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) from March 22-April 23. CDFIs are specialized financial institutions operating in markets that are underserved by traditional financial institutions, and they have been at the forefront of the economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participating CDFIs will be asked questions about their capitalization, capacity and the impact of COVID-19 on their organizations, clients and communities. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Federal Reserve Banks and the CDFI Fund intend to use the survey data to inform research and policymaking. The survey data will also provide important benchmark information on how CDFIs are faring in the COVID-19 crisis and how they are serving low-income and minority populations. Finally, responses will be used to update a national CDFI directory for business, government, community leaders, investors and policymakers.
The data analysis firm 60 Decibels released last month the results of a survey conducted with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers of six Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), including CDBA members Southern Bancorp and Optus Bank. 60 Decibels interviewed 1,073 PPP borrowers for this survey, one third of whom originally sought assistance from a non-CDFI lender. Of the borrowers who initially sought assistance from another lender, 84% indicated that their experience with a CDFI bank was better than their experience with the other lender.
Can community development financial institutions be anti-racist? As financial institutions, CDFIs inherit the very tools of capitalism that have wreaked havoc on communities of color for decades in repeated cycles of cynical wealth extraction. Can any organization overcome that history? CDFIs believe that they can use the tools of capitalism for good. But without deep analysis and interrogation, each tool should remain suspect.
Banks have been permanently shuttering branches for years, but the number of closures hit a record in 2020 as the pandemic accelerated the move by many customers to online banking. Banks closed 3,324 branches last year, according to a tally by S&P Global Market Intelligence. "In the last 60 days, I've had two mayors reach out to me saying, 'Would you bring a bank branch here?' " says Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp, which specializes in underserved communities. "In a lot of the rural communities we serve, the bank branch is part of the social fabric," Williams said. "If you go to Truman, Ark., on a payday Friday, there are going to be 10 people deep in the line. People want to come to that bank branch because it's social."
A hundred years ago, Brooklyn was teeming with mutual savings banks. There was the Brooklyn Savings Bank, the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, the South Brooklyn Savings Bank, the Williamsburg Savings Bank, ... but they are all gone. A mutual savings bank does not have shareholders and is operated on behalf of its depositors. Most, including three of the four remaining mutual savings banks in the city with branches in Brooklyn, Ridgewood Savings Bank and Cross County Savings Bank (founded in 1888 as Bushwick Savings & Loan Association of New York) out of Queens, and Ponce Bank out of the Bronx, were established by local residents for local residents about a hundred years ago to help improve their lot by saving and homeownership. They were, and one could argue, still are the quintessential community banks.