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The US Department of the Treeasury has released recommendations to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The recomendations were issued to the primary CRA regulators, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The objective of the recommendations it to better align CRA activity with the needs of the communities that banks serve, while being conducted in a manner consistent with a bank's safety and soundness.
Industry representatives, analysts, and consumer advocates have all praised the Treasury report recommending a slew of CRA reforms that could serve as a jumping off point for regulators twho seem poised to update their decades-old policy. In this Article, the American banker provides five key takeaways from the Treasury report, which has been dubbed "an astonishingly progressive set of recommendations" by Federal Financial Analytics.
Lower-income neighborhoods are plagued by disproportionately fewer bank branches, prompting some residents to turn to high-cost alternatives to obtain capital. Advocates say there is a viable option to help fill the void. In Buffalo, NY, some legislators are calling for the state to allocate $25 million to support CDFIs. "We want to see a statewide investment, an affirmative policy where the state is committing to support institutions that share this mission to serve low-income communities," said Andy Morrison, campaigns director for the New Economy Project. The small number of bank branches in low-income areas, he argues, underscores the need for state funding.
John Williams will move from the San Francisco Fed to take on the pivotal New York Federal Reserve president's position. Long rumored for the job, Williams will exit the president's post he held in San Francisco since 2011. As head of the New York district, he will oversee the important trading desk that helps set the Fed's key funds rate used as a benchmark for multiple types of consumer and bank debt. The appoitment comes with the Fed in the middle of some key operations in carrying out its mandate of skipping the economy at full employment and stabilizing inflation.
It has been 50 years since Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act of 1968, a landmark law passed in the aftermath of Martin Luther King's assassination that banned discriminatory practices in housing. However, homeownership remains elusive for African Americans. Since the financial crisis, the average homeownership rate has fallen below 64%, not much higher than it was in the 1960s. While every racial demographic suffered as a result of the housing collapse, none suffered more than African Americans.
Black Americans experience dramatically lower upward mobility than white Americans do -- a difference that appears to be driven largely by significant economic disadvantages among black men. This conclusion comes from a groundbreaking study that combines Census Bureau data on race with IRS tax returns, which allows economists to track individuals' earnings over many years and tie them to their parents' earnings. The study compares intergenerational mobility, the degree to which children exceed or fall behind their parents economically, across different racial groups. This article from Vox highlights a few major takeaways from the new research.
The plight of the unbanked in the US' poorest regions is a modern-day scandal in the world's richest nation. This article highlights the work of Southern Bancorp as it seeks to address the problem. In a region that has become a financial desert, where banks have left or refuse to lend to the community because of rigid credit policies from headquarters many states away, Southern Bancorp has breathed life into the small-town communities of Arkansas and Mississippi. In 50% of its locations, it is either the only bank or one of two.
First Independence Bank chairman & CEO Kenneth Kelly has been appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council. The council is comprised of 12 members who are industry leaders across the Midwest, currently representing portions of the five states in the Seventh Federal Reserve District – Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. Chairman Kelly will serve a three-year term on the council from 2018-2020. “I am grateful to be appointed to the Advisory Council to provide insight into our economy in Michigan and the current banking landscape,” said Kelly.
On March 22, the House of Representatives passed a $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page spending bill that would keep government agencies operating through September. The bill includes total funding for the CDFI Fund at $250 million, the highest ever received. The Bank Enterprise Award Program also received an increase in funding from $23 million to $25 million, which would greatly benefit CDFI banks. The Senate is expected to vote on the passage of the bill before the end of the week. If signed into law, this bill is widely expected to be the last major legislation that Congress will pass before the November midterm elections.
At a press conference on Wednesday, March 21 MS Governor Phil Bryant has named Cindy Hyde-Smith, the state's commissioner of agriculture and commerce, to the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Thad Cochran on April 1. Hyde-Smith, a former Democrat who joined the GOP in 2010, is the first female senator in the state's history. She will serve until November, when a special election will determine who will serve the remainder of Cochran's term, which is set to expire in 2020. Read More >