Recent News
CDFI-certified Citizens Bancshares is making progress exiting the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The $407 million-asset company paid about $3.2 million to redeem roughly 4,400 shares of preferred stock from the Treasury Department, representing a $152,000 discount. The company also paid about 11,000 to resolve all accrued and previously unpaid dividends. The Treasury still holds about 7,500 shares of Citizens' preferred stock.
Senate Democrats & Republicans alike have assigned new lawmakers to the Senate Banking Committee with Republican Senators David Perdue (GA), Thom Tillis (NC), John Kennedy (LA) and Democratic Senators Brian Schatz (HI), Chris Van Hollen (MD), and Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) have joined the panel for the 115th Congress. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer (NY) will depart to focus on his responsibilities as Senate minority leader.
This recent Next City article clearly articulates the value-proposition of community development banks, as financial institutions that take on a triple-bottom line approach, "providing social justice and environmental well-being at the same time as being financially sustainable." CDBA Member Beneficial State Bank is highlighted in the work they have done to attract customers who are focused on aligning their vision for an ethical economy with their personal finances.
Highlighting local coverage of Central Bank of Kansas City's seventh award under the New Market Tax Credit Program. To date they have allocated $251 million in credits on community development projects that support business growth and job creation.
The Treasury Department has significantly reduced its stake in Broadway Financial Corporation, the Banking Holding Company (BHC) of CDBA Member, Broadway Federal Bank in Los Angeles. The $413 million-asset bank recently disclosed in a regulatory filing that the Treasury sold about 4.7 million shares of its common stock, which reduced the Treasury's stake from 47.4% of total voting shares down to 29.3%.
This opinion piece focuses on the potential threats to CDFI Fund appropriations with proposed domestic discretionary spending cuts on the table in the 115th Congress and advocates for strong and coordinated action from the CDFI Industry as a whole to ensure the continuity of the funding stream.
Watch the video here.
CDBA Members are consistently on the cutting edge of new opportunities to maximize and publish the social impact that they are having in local communities across the country. Therefore it is fitting that City First Bank & Southern Bancorp are two of the first institutional members to join Mighty, a new platform that will help "small but powerful" banks to connect with potential depositors or investors, especially among the Millennial demographic, who are seeking a bank that makes a positive social impact.
The federal banking agencies recently issued final rules that permanently extend the on-site exam cycle from 12 months to 18 months for banks with up to $1 billion in assets, effective immediately. The rules are identical to interim final rules issued earlier this year.
One of the most important concepts to come out of the Promontory Network is the idea of reciprocal deposits, which allows the network to chop up a large deposits and distribute the funds among many small banks, stay within the government maximum and keeping the entire deposit on the books of the original bank. The FDIC's new 2016 rule that allows this category of deposits to now be considered under the definition of "core deposits" has lowered the cost of insuring these deposits for many small community banking institutions.
Deborah Wright, chairman and former CEO of Carver Federal Savings Bank, will join Citigroup's board on January 1, 2017. Wright's appointment to Citigroup's board extends the ties between the two landmark New York financial institutions. "Deborah led Carver Bank through the economic crisis that severely impacted community banks and it went on to earn a reputation as one of the most successful African-American led banking institutions in the country," Citi Chairman Michael O'Neil issued in a statement on Friday.
The US House of Representatives has recently passed an amendment to the Dodd-Frank legislation, which scraps the US$50bn asset threshold above which banks were previously considered “too big to fail” and therefore subjected to more stringent regulation. In its place, the bill proposes determining the systemic risk of each bank based on its size, interconnectedness, financial infrastructure, global cross-jurisdictional activity and complexity – a model based on the Basel Committee’s approach. The law still has to go through Senate before being presented to the president.
Out of the historic $7 Billion New Market Tax Credit Allocation announced just before the Thanksgiving holiday, CDBA members represented 4 of the 5 total banks who received tax credit funding. Central Bank of Kansas City was awarded $80 milliom, City First Bank of DC was awarded $75 million, Sunrise Banks was awarded $70 million, and United Bank of Alabama received $65 million. Click here to read the full list of national awardees.
Watch the video here.
Bank of Kilmichael has announced that for the 8th straight quarter they have earned a 5-star Superior rating from Bauer Financial, which measures excellence in areas of capital adequacy, profitability, loan quality, amongst other factors.
The efforts of CDBA Members United Bank of Alabama, BankPlus, and Bank of Montgomery to address the entrenched problems of high rates of unbanked or underbanked individuals in the rural south are highlighted in this recent American Banker article.
Increased oversight and enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) is putting a squeeze on small banks across the country as federal regulators raise the standard for all financial institutions.
Blackfeet tribal community leader Elouise Cobell was recently announced as one of 21 recipients who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Cobell is an advocate for Native American self-determination and financial independence and in this vein was one of the founders of CDBA member Native American Bank.
Balancing the competing demands of social impact and financial returns is a major source of effort for community development practitioners. Researchers from the Omidyar Network recently published an article detailing their impact investment philosophy across a spectrum that extends from fully commercial investments to philanthropic grants.
Beneficial State Bank is paving the way as the first community development financial institution in California's Central Valley and tenth business in the city of Fresno to receive the certification as a California Green Business, demonstrating the bank's commitment to serving as a conduit for economic development and environmental sustainability.