Recent News
The Federal Reserve's accommodative monetary policy and post-crisis regulatory structure is having an unintended and counterproductive effect: it's making it harder for ordinary Americans to get ahead. That argument, detailed in a paper released Monday by Federal Financial Analytics, analyzed academic research from across the globe to assess the impact of the prolonged ultra-low interest rate environment on asset prices. The conclusion is that while those accommodative policies have spurred economic activity in some areas, it has primarily resulted in the growth of assets like equities and... Read more
To the editor: Your article describes efforts to investigate Wells Fargo for predatory practices. This latest fine against Wells Fargo highlights industry-wide practices that have resulted in billions of dollars in fines in recent years. But, as a banker focusing on low-income communities, I don’t believe these fines are eliminating unwanted behaviors.
Carver Federal Savings Bank CEO Michael T. Pugh was recently interviewed on The Karen Hunter Show, which airs on SiriusXM Urban View, Channel 126. During the interview, Mr. Pugh spoke with Karen Hunter about the challenges and opportunities that Black-managed banks face and how important a bank’s Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) Rating is to determining whether that bank is providing loan capital to the communities it operates in.
Community bankers are sensing a chance to poach clients from Wells Fargo as the financial giant struggles with a phony-account scandal.
The Financial CHOICE Act would change the CFPB’s structure and regulatory power, and would help community financial institutions by ending Operation Choke Point.
Durham-based M&F Bank has made the decision to de-list from the Nasdaq and withdraw its common stock from registration. In a securities filing Tuesday, the company said the decision came down to several factors, including the “significant cost” of filing periodic reports and complying with regulatory rules. According to the disclosure, the company will continue to publish “selected financial information” and quarterly earnings reports on its website.
Banks, weighing factors that include cost-efficient underwriting, keeping credit losses under control, and regulators' caution on products such as deposit advance, struggle to create workable credit products that meet the short-term borrowing needs of low- and moderate-income customers. This prevents those customers from climbing the traditional bank credit ladder, and drives them to seek other options. Consequently, the landscape is saturated with more than 50,000 alternative financial services storefronts and websites that include check cashers, auto title lenders, pawnshops and the like... Read more
Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow coined the term, conscious uncoupling. Nichol Beckstrand, President of Sunrise Banks, talks in terms of conscious coupling and poses a challenge for fin tech and financial institutions. Join Nichol as she kicks off PayThink 2016 and challenges the audience with real life examples of how Sunrise Banks has taken innovation and driven this mission focused bank from Minneapolis/St. Paul into a national limelight.
PayThink is focused on the important inter-connected markets of debit, prepaid, mobile, digital payments and ATM. Every year, innovative... Read more
Southern Bancorp CEO, Darrin Williams, was recently presented the Supporting Organization of the Year award on behalf of Southern Bancorp for the community development bank’s efforts to support minority business growth from the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce during Minority Enterprise Development Week.
The rallying cry emerged after a summer that saw the nation, once again, engaged in discussions about race, policing, and inequality. Instead of just taking to the streets after the deaths of black men at the hands of police and the subsequent murder of officers, protesters were urged — through hashtags like #bankblack and #blackdollarsmatter — to deposit $100 each into black-owned banks. And for Boston-based OneUnited Bank, the nation’s largest black-owned bank, the impact of the “Bank Black” movement was almost immediate. The bank, which has struggled in recent years,... Read more
Banking in St. Paul is easy. Or at least when compared to Los Angeles, where David Reiling worked for First Interstate Bank fresh out of college. “The first two weeks I was there, the bank I was in got robbed three times,” Reiling said. That didn’t deter him, though. Reiling has made a career out of working in inner-city banks, finding his stride in developing communities through financial services. He’s been with St. Paul-based Sunrise Banks, which aims to bring financial empowerment to underserved populations, for 20 years. For the past 12 years he’s been CEO.
Learn about the 20 year old program in California called the California Organized Investment Network, or COIN. Through its various programs, COIN encourages and tracks insurance company reinvestment into low- and moderate-income areas of California.
Despite celebrating its 20th anniversary in August, COIN has never been permanent. Every few years, the state legislature has to reauthorize it, and the latest COIN reauthorization bill, passed last month, leaves out or severely limits key provisions of the program. Advocates will have to re-start the battle next year in order to... Read more
The number of community development banks is rising at a time when the ranks of other financial institutions are shrinking. The special-purpose banks — a subset of community development financial institutions — serve low- and moderate-income communities. By becoming CDFIs, banks — along with credit unions and other types of lenders — can apply for certain funding from the Treasury Department and other agencies.
First Southwest Bank and Bank of Anguilla discuss the reasons why they became CDFI certified banks and Jeannine Jacokes of the ... Read more
Industrial Bank of Washington, D.C., typically opens 300 new accounts in six months. Thanks to the social media campaign #BankBlack, the bank opened 3,000 new accounts for a total of $6 million in just two months.
Emboldened by supportive comments from presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, community development banks including BankPlus, Neighborhood National Bank & Southern Bancorp are asking regulators for more leniency in areas such as disclosure fees and Bank Secrecy Act enforcement. The Community Development Bankers Association sent a letter in late June to Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen and other high-ranking Fed officials highlighting the trade group's concerns with elements of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Bank... Read more
Mississippi has more CDFIs per capita than any other state. Its financial ecosystem is a unique place, where bankers and residents are coming to see one another as allies despite a difficult history. CDFI's are leading the way. "If we don't help our community, the community’s going to die" says Huey Townsend, President and CEO of Guaranty Bank & Trust. Powered by nearly $2.5 million in awards from the CDFI Fund, his institution has emerged as a leader in providing financial services to the poor, along with a handful of others including Bank of Anguilla... Read more
First Security Bank & Trust is a recipient of the 2016 Innovation in Financial Education Award presented by NASDAQ and EverFi. The award recognizes First Security’s efforts to improve the financial capability of Americans through unique digital learning initiatives. First Security has partnered with EverFi to bring Common Cent$ to local students at no cost to schools or taxpayers, and has reached over 1,100 students since 2011.
Neighborhood Bancorp, the holding company for Neighborhood National Bank, announced today a definitive agreement that will result in doubling the bank's capital. The investment of $6 million is led by Stephen Taylor, Chairman of Chicago-based Taylor Asset Management, who is a noted investor in California community banks. "This agreement represents an important step in recapitalizing and positioning the bank for future growth," said Dan Yates, Neighborhood Bank's President and CEO.
American Banker has released their 2016 list of best banks to work for. CDBA Members Guaranty Bank and Trust, FNBC Bank, Community Bank and Bankplus all made the list.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta are holding a one-day forum on CDFI banking in the Southeast region, in partnership with CDBA, the National Bankers Association and the National Community Investment Fund. Topics will include economic and demographic trends affecting the Southeast, the financial performance of CDFI banks and strategic partnership opportunities. Distinguished speakers will include Atlanta Fed EVP, Bank Supervision and Regulation Michael Johnson, CDFI Fund Director Annie Donovan and FDIC Senior Deputy Director Sylvia Plunkett. The... Read more