Recent News
The idea of investing with a social purpose is gaining ground. The broad category of sustainable and responsible investing grew 38 percent in the United States from 2016 to the start of 2018, to $12 trillion in assets under management, according to the US SIF Foundation. That represented one out of every four dollars of the $46.6 trillion under management, the group noted. A wide range of investments were held, including mutual funds, annuities, E.T.F.s and closed-end funds. Morningstar reported that 2018 marked the third consecutive year of record flows into sustainable funds; the number... Read more
Virginia Community Capital will host the 2019 Learning Exchange at the Science Museum of Virginia on December 11. This year's Learning Exchange, themed "What's Next", will feature five different speakers delivering a TED-style talk lasting no more than 12 minutes each on trends impacting our communities such as housing, impact investing, technology, and clean energy. The Learning Exchange's main goal is to provide frameworks/ideas the statewide audience can easily digest and apply to their unique communities. These ideas tend to challenge conventional thinking, offer tools... Read more
The New York Fed unveiled a new tool—the Credit Insecurity Index—to provide policymakers and the broader public with a more comprehensive measure of credit access and community credit health. Unlike other metrics that focus on residents without a credit file or score, the Credit Insecurity Index also includes individuals who may have credit files but are limited in their ability to borrow at affordable terms due to blemishes on their records. A new series of reports—Unequal Access to Credit: The Hidden Impact of Credit Constraints—offers in-depth analysis using... Read more
JPMorgan Chase announced Tuesday a $25 million commitment to the Financial Health Network's Financial Solutions Lab, a program meant to focus on the creation of fintech tools to help consumers better manage their finances.The Financial Health Network (formerly the Center for Financial Services Innovation) previously received a $30 million philanthropic donation from the bank that spanned the last five years. JPMorgan also unveiled a new branch in the Harlem section of New York City that will feature a digital innovation lab. It will test new ways to use digital channels to rapidly assist... Read more
BankPlus and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas presented a check for $8,000 to Lauderdale County Habitat for Humanity to create a marketing plan and website. Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization that provides housing for low-income working families. The agency has put 78 families in homes over the last 30 years in Lauderdale County. The organization does not have a website, but uses Facebook and Instagram to connect with the community. The website will be used to promote the organization, to collect donations and as a place for volunteers to sign up.
AB 857, which creates a legal pathway in California for public banks owned by city and county governments where cities and counties would deposit public dollars, was recently passed by the California Assembly. The governor has until October 13 to sign it into law. Progress on public banks in California will be closely watched in other states and cities where organizers and public officials have been pushing for public banks — including Washington State, New Mexico, Michigan, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, the Twin Cities, Portland, Seattle, and... Read more
On Wednesday, September 18, 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department announced $25.2 million in Bank Enterprise Awards (BEA) by the US Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. 38 banks certified as CDFIs received awards for their efforts to channel $19.4 million of deposits into 18 CDFI credit unions to support their lending in distressed communities. In 2016, the Community Development Bankers Association and Inclusiv began working together to play matchmaker between CDFI banks participating in the BEA Program and CDFI credit unions. While traditional banks... Read more
Every year, B Lab recognizes the top-performing B Corps creating the greatest impact through their businesses. Honorees are recognized for having the highest environmental, community, customer, worker and overall impact by earning a score in the top 10% on the B Impact Assessment, as well as a list recognising B Corps with the greatest impact improvement (the changemakers). These businesses are proving that competing not only to be best in the world but best for the world is a winning strategy, and they can lead the way as mainstream businesses join our movement. This year, 4 CDBA members... Read more
City First Bank of DC has released their 2018 impact report in addition to an anthology highlighting their 25th anniversary. The anthology tells the historic and vibrant stories of social impact that have been critical to City First's community economic development over the past twenty-five years. City First was chartered with a mission of investing intentionally in low wealth neighborhoods to revitalize historic corridors like U Street and H Street. City First is committed to nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and families. In this anthoogy, you will meet the social entrepreneurs that dared to... Read more
Planters Bank announces that Alan Hargett is assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2019. Hargett, a native of Ruleville, began his banking career with Planters as a management trainee in the Planters Indianola office in 1989 the same year he earned his Bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University. He currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of Planters Bank. Hargett is a member of the Planters Board of Directors and serves on the board and executive committee of the Mississippi Bankers Association.
A decade after big banks needed government support to dig out of the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve is slowly, but steadily, making a series of regulatory changes that could chip away at new requirements put in place to prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown. Some of the changes, seemingly incremental and technical on their own, could add up to a weakening of capital requirements installed in the wake of the crisis to prevent the largest banks from suffering the kind of destabilizing losses that imperiled the United States economy. Another imminent change will soften a rule intended... Read more
The Mississippi Backwater Flood of 2019 has been a devastating event for the residents of the South Delta in Mississippi. The people, farms, businesses, homes, and wildlife have been affected for months with the impact lasting for years to come. Bank of Anguilla has been a huge part of the community for 115 years and will continue to support and provide relief to the South Delta in helping overcome this disaster.
Legacy Bank and Trust invited Rep. Billy Long (MO-07) to their offices over the Congressional Recess to discuss the importance of CDFIs in the community. Pictured from left to right are: Brandon Taylor, CFO of Legacy Bank; Rep. Billy Long (MO-07); John Everett, President and CEO of Legacy Bank; and Brett Mager, Chief Lending Officer of Legacy Bank.
The relative rarity of banks in nonwhite neighborhoods is exacerbating the racial wealth gap by leaving African Americans more reliant on expensive financial services such as payday lending institutions, according to Reuters, citing research by McKinsey & Co. The study found that majority-white counties have an average of 41 financial institutions per 100,000 people, compared to 27 in nonwhite majority neighborhoods. It also found banks in majority-black neighborhoods tend to require a higher minimum account balance, with an average minimum of $871 in black neighborhoods compared to $... Read more
Everyone should consider impact investing, says Lori Chatman, SVP at Enterprise Community Investment. "Increasingly, investors are demanding positive social outcomes without sacrificing return or assuming undue risks," says Chatman. Being intentional about desired non-financial outcomes is core to impact investing or values-based investing. For nearly 40 years, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have been making investments that impact people’s lives, communities, and the planet. According to Chatman, they are a prime vehicle for investors and... Read more
U.S. Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS-2) joined Planters Bank and Trust Company and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) representatives last Thursday to attend a walking tour of the Reserves at Gray Park. The Reserves at Gray Park is a mixed use, mixed income, in-fill housing development built on eight acres of land donated by the city to Greater Greenville Housing and Revitalization Association (GGHRA) in November 2014, with 42 apartment units for families at or below 80 percent of the area median income. Hailed as the Delta’s first sustainable, healthy community,... Read more
Investar Holding in Baton Rouge, La., has agreed to buy Bank of York in Alabama. The $2 billion-asset Investar said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $15 million in cash for the $99.5 million-asset Bank of York. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Bank of York, which has $82.3 million in deposits and $46 million in loans, will be allowed to make $1 million in cash distributions to its shareholders prior to closing. The bank has branches in York and Livington, along with a loan production office in Tuscaloosa. The move marks Investar's entry into Alabama.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board's new reserve methodology is unlikely to achieve its goal of helping the U.S. banking industry build reserves ahead of the next downturn thanks to the proposed delay in implementation for the vast majority of institutions. After years of debate, FASB created the current expected credit loss model, or CECL, with an eye to speed up the recognition of problems by requiring institutions to reserve for estimated losses at origination as opposed to building allowances when a loss is probable. Many bankers expect CECL to boost reserves at adoption, but we... Read more
The history of America's earliest African American banks is something that is not widely known. These banks served as an important source of credit while also offering innumerable other benefits to the consumers and communities that they served. The latest volume of the Kansas City Fed's historical book series details the stories and accomplishments of these bankers.
Earline Williams, 76, said she was gifted the best Christmas present when she received a phone call on the first of the year from Mississippi-based BankPlus, telling her she had been approved to receive funds from the Special Needs Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP grants are awarded through members like BankPlus to provide grant funds for rehabilitation and modification of owner-occupied housing of eligible, special-needs individuals. Since SNAP's inception in 2009, more than $15.1 million has been awarded in grants through FHLB Dallas member institutions to assist more than 3,000... Read more