News

| Wednesday, January 23, 2013

CDBANewsflash - Low Rez For Email 2

January 23, 2013
 


Member News

Southern Bancorp Community Partners Names New Community Development Officer
The Helena Arkansas Daily World
(1-23-13)

Kimberly Hall Clement recently joined the staff of Southern Bancorp Community Partners in Helena as community development officer. Clement will be responsible for supporting and promoting community development initiatives in the areas of health, education, housing, leadership, economic development, and other priorities the Strategic Community Plan defines. Southern Bancorp Community Partners works directly with its affiliate Southern Bancorp, a U.S. Treasury-certified community development bank, to revitalize underserved communities in the Mid-South. Together, they seek to reduce poverty by improving education and economic opportunities for individuals and families. 
 


Of Interest

Affordability for Renters Worsens "Across Board" in Philadelphia Area
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
(1-23-13)
 
While housing affordability challenges were greatest for extremely low-income renters, affordability indicators worsened across the board for renters in the Third Federal Reserve District between 2005 and 2010, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Community Development Studies Education Department. Of the 1.4 million renter households in the Third District in 2010, half spent more than 30 percent of their income on gross rent (including utilities), a level typically referred to as a housing cost burden. This share drifted up gradually from 44 percent in 2005. The level was highest for extremely low-income renters earning no more than 30 percent of the local median family income. However, the rates for very low-income and low-income renters grew by 5 and 10 percentage points, respectively, during the period. In total, 29 percent of renter households in the Third District had a severe housing cost burden in 2010, an...
| Thursday, January 17, 2013

CDBANewsflash - Low Rez For Email 2

January 17, 2013
 


Member News

Start Bank Sees Return On Investment
New Haven Indpendent
(1-11-13)

Start Community Bank’s efforts to foster financial literacy and work with first-time account holders have paid off - in the form of an award of nearly $300,000 from the federal government. The two-year-old local community lender announced that news recently at an event at its Whalley Avenue branch. Start was one of 59 banks awarded with a Bank Enterprise Award from the Community Development and Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Start Community Bank will receive an award of $287,834, which will go toward a number of the young lender’s programs. Those include “Loot Camp,” which teaches teens how to save money, and work with Columbus House to help people who are homeless to establish bank accounts.

Nickelodeon Star and BankPlus Present Check to Friends of Children's Hospital
BankPlus
(1-11-13)

With the help of Nickelodeon star SpongeBob SquarePants, BankPlus presented a check for $148,785.40 to Friends of Children’s Hospital, representing the first year’s proceeds from the bank’s Friends of Children’s Hospital CheckCard program. “On behalf of all the physicians, nurses, staff - and most of all - on behalf of the children who are patients at Batson Children's Hospital and their families, we say thank you to BankPlus,” said Dr. Rick Barr, Suzan B. Thames Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at Batson Children’s Hospital. “Not only for the show of support demonstrated by the Friends of Children's Hospital Checkcard program, but for the many programs that BankPlus supports every day that benefit children. The funds raised will help our mission of providing the best possible health care to all the children of Mississippi.” BankPlus introduced the charitable option for consumers in November of 2011, returning  proceeds from the Friends CheckCard directly to Friends of Children’s Hospital. The Friends CheckCard program is the first of its kind for both BankPlus and Friends.  
 


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| Wednesday, January 16, 2013

A report released by the UNC Center for Community Capital details flaws in the methodology and conclusions of a new paper seeking to discredit the Community Reinvestment Act, enacted in 1977 to encourage regulated financial institutions to meet the credit needs of their communities in a safe and sound manner.

Researchers urged policymakers and practitioners to resist being distracted by a widely rejected thesis promoted in a December paper issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The "'blame the CRA' story has been refuted by industry leaders and researchers time and time again," authors said in their report, Debunking the CRA Myth Again. "Rather than trying to place blame where none exists, we argue that the focus of the debate should be on how CRA can be modernized and improved to better reflect the current financial services landscape and meet the continuing credit needs of America's communities."

Read the full report for more information about the study and its conclusions. 

| Wednesday, January 16, 2013

When banks carefully track small, significant changes in their customers’ financial situations, these institutions can improve their fortunes and compete more effectively. First-Mover Matters: Building credit Monitoring for Competitive Advantage, a report from McKinsey’s risk practice, shows that one way to better monitor credit is to tap analytics and specialists to spot quantitative and even qualitative early-warning signs of borrower trouble. Another approach is to set up formal triggers for timely intervention that can guide customers back to financial health or limit further losses when the situation isn’t likely to improve. McKinsey argues that better credit monitoring could be one of the main ways that capital-strapped banks can improve their business model.

Read the full report from McKinsey to find out how banks can significantly reduce their exposure.

| Friday, January 11, 2013

Although launched only two years ago, Start Community Bank has already been recognized for its work with low- and moderate-income communities in New Haven, Connecticut. A certified community development bank and CDBA member, Start received a Bank Enterprise Award of over $285,000 from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institution's Fund. 

Read more about Start Community Bank and its local lending work via this story from the New Haven Independent. 

| Thursday, January 10, 2013

CDBANewsflash - Low Rez For Email 2

January 10, 2013
 


Member News

Rep. Darrin Williams Named New Southern Bancorp CEO
TalkBusiness
(1-9-13)

Effective Feb. 1, 2013, Darrin Williams, a lawyer and current Democratic Arkansas State Representative, will be the new CEO of Southern Bancorp, Inc. “Darrin’s financial skills, legal experience in securities and financial regulation and history of advocating for the rights of the disadvantaged in both his law practice and his political career make him the perfect choice to lead Southern Bancorp in its mission to build communities and change lives,” said Walter Smiley, current CEO and board chairman of Southern Bancorp, Inc. Williams is a principal at the law firm of Carney Williams Bates Pulliam & Bowman PLLC, where his work focuses on protecting consumers. “My career focus of protecting consumers from the abuses of Wall Street banks has prepared me well to show how banking should and can be done to help communities and people,” said Williams. “I don’t know of a better bank to make that point than Southern.”

Bankruptcy Judge Gives Charles Street AME More Time to Submit Amended Reorganization Plan
Boston Globe
(1-4-13)

The judge in the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church bankruptcy case Friday gave the congregation until Jan. 18 to file an amended reorganization plan, over the protests of bank lawyers who called the church’s proposals unrealistic and based on erroneous figures. It was the latest skirmish in what has turned into a long court battle between the church and OneUnited Bank. Charles Street AME filed for federal bankruptcy protection last March, after it fell behind on payments for nearly $5 million in OneUnited loans and the bank threatened to auction off the the historic Roxbury church. “There is no plan here that’s possibly feasible,’’ said Gayle Ehrlich, a lawyer for OneUnited, in a withering indictment of the church’s financial records in US Bankruptcy Court in Boston. “This case is way off track and can never get on track.” Ehrlich criticized the church’s proposal to repay its debts to OneUnited over 30 years as unheard of with a business loan — only home mortgages and farm equipment purchases are afforded such long pay-back periods, she...

| Wednesday, January 2, 2013

CDBANewsflash - Low Rez For Email 2

January 2, 2013
 


Member News

United Bank Celebrates the Retirement of Two Long-Serving Bank Employees
Atmore News
(1-2-13)

A reception was held at United Bank for retirees Nancy Everette Helton and P. D. Pollard Thursday, December, 13, at the Atmore Main Branch, where friends and coworkers wished them well after more than 28 years of service to the bank and the community. “Today we’re celebrating a day that we all hope to work toward,” said Bob Jones, President and CEO of United Bank, at Thursday’s reception. Jones presented gifts to both as he congratulated them in front of a crowd of more than 100, including fellow bank retirees. “While it’s bittersweet, we wish Nancy and P.D. the best as they begin new chapters and new adventures,” Jones said.

BankPlus Takes on Mississippi Payday Lenders
American Banker
(January 1, 2013)

As the operators of a community bank in the state with the most payday lenders per capita (32 for every 100,000 people), executives at BankPlus in Belzoni, Miss., are characteristically appalled at the exorbitant rates that payday lenders charge. But uncharacteristically for a bank, BankPlus decided four years ago to compete with these payday lenders. Now it successfully offers a small-dollar loan product to thousands of people, with significantly better terms and outcomes. "The idea was to create a program to assist anyone caught in the payday lending cycle, but also to serve the underbanked who seek to enter the commercial banking system," says Bill Ray, the president and CEO of $2.3 billion-asset BankPlus.
 


Of Interest

New Rules on Debit-Card Processing Start to Pinch Small Banks and Credit Unions
Washington Post
(12-29-12) 

Community banks and credit...

| Thursday, December 27, 2012

BankPlus, a certified community development bank and CDBA member, is located in Mississippi, the state with the most payday lenders per capita. But executives at the Bank were not willing to stand by as these payday lenders charged extremely high rates to often low-income borrowers. Instead, BankPlus decided to offer a small-dollar loan product with better terms and outcomes. According to BankPlus President and CEO Bill Ray, "The idea was to create a program to assist anyone caught in the payday lending cycle, but also to serve the underbanked who seek to enter the commercial banking system." 

Learn more about BankPlus's innovative financial product at American Banker.

| Wednesday, December 19, 2012

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December 19, 2012
 


Member News

Virginia Community Capital Finishes 2012 Strong with 3 Grants
Virginia Community Capital
(12-10-12)

Virginia Community Capital has received three national grants this past month to support its work in low-income communities and bolster ongoing job creation efforts. A $415,000 grant from the 2012 Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA), offered through the U.S. Department of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institution Fund, will provide leverage for a wide range of projects across Virginia. This is VCC's fourth consecutive BEA award. $32,750 from the Create Jobs for USA Fund, a collaboration between Starbucks and the Opportunity Finance Network to spark job creation nationally, will combine with first round funding secured in 2011. $20,000 from the Wells Fargo NEXT Awards Program, supporting innovative CDFIs, will provide planning grant funds for the Healthy Foods initiative at VCC. "These grants increase our capacity to provide funding and technical advisory services for low-income communities across Virginia," offered Jane Henderson, VCC President and CEO. "We are especially pleased to see national organizations recognize our efforts and the importance of fellow CDFIs."

 

Of Interest

2011 FDIC Survey of Banks’ Efforts to Serve the Unbanked and Underbanked Released
FDIC
(12-19-12) 

This report presents the results of the 2011 FDIC Survey of Banks’ Efforts to...

| Thursday, December 13, 2012

cdbanewsflash_-_low_rez_for_email

December 13, 2012


Member News

Governor Andrew Cuomo Names Tax-Code Panel
Gannett New York Network

(12-11-12) A year after it was first unveiled, a panel tasked with brainstorming long-term fixes for New York’s tax code is beginning to take shape.
Former state Comptroller Carl McCall and Peter Solomon, the founder of New York City-based investment advisory firm Peter J. Solomon Company, have been tapped by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to co-chair the New York State Tax Reform and Fairness Commission, according to a list obtained by Gannett’s Albany Bureau. The commission was formed as part of a December 2011 deal to tweak the state’s tax brackets, an agreement that came while Cuomo and the Legislature were under pressure to prevent an added tax on the state’s top earners from expiring at the end of the year. That deal included a new bracket for those making more than $2 million annually, which expires at the end of 2014. Cuomo named ten people to the panel, including Deborah Wright, President and CEO of Carver Bancorp Inc. and Carver Federal Savings Bank.

“Three Michaels: A Berkeley Conversation”
Berkeleyside

(12-10-12) Authors Michael Chabon, Michael Lewis, and Michael Pollan appeared at the Berkeley Rep in “The Three Michaels: A Berkeley Conversation,”  to help enable the creation in Oakland of a tutoring and creative writing center for East Bay youth, dedicated to supporting students with their writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Berkeleyside’s “Three Michaels: A Berkeley Conversation” is being supported by One PacificCoast Bank, founded in 2007 by Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor “to be a force for good,” according to Taylor who is the bank’s CEO.  “We want to be a model for how banks should operate, as it’s clear many banks have been responsible for unholy damage,” Taylor says, citing the mortgage crisis and the destruction of rain forests as examples.

Southern Bancorp Mission News
Southern Bancorp

(12-7-12) While...

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