Recent News
The CFPB has named Sunrise Banks CEO David Reiling vice chair of its Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC). CBAC was created to ensure the perspectives of community depository institutions with less than $10 billion in assets are shared with the CFBP. Reiling hopes to further the council's mission of representing the needs of community bankers. “The experience of this past year on the Community Bank Advisory Council has been more than rewarding,” said Reiling. “I am honored to be asked to serve as the CBAC Vice Chair and look forward to engaging with the Bureau to... Read more
Allies arrayed against the Minnesota payday lending industry are gaining traction thanks to a $2.2 million Next Opportunity Award for Sunrise Banks of St. Paul. The bank's small-dollar loan program, TrueConnect, already covers 10,000 employees through participating employers. Sunrise CEO Dave Reiling said the fresh capital will allow the bank's TrueConnect program “to scale nationally and offer a safe-loan alternative for 26 million Americans who do not have a credit score.” Through TrueConnect, offered as an employee benefit, a worker can get a loan of up to $3,000. The... Read more
BankPlus Hernando branch president Dink Upchurch is banking on a sound economic recovery and the Greenwood native said all indications are that the nation is healing from the Great Recession. His branch, located on the historic DeSoto County Courthouse square, gives him an up-close view of how that recovery is hitting main street. "The thing about being on the square is that everybody knows everybody,” Upchurch said. “I’ve been in some areas that I will call places, but this is a community… The economy seems to be coming back… We made $17 million in loans this past year at... Read more
Jane Henderson, president of Virginia Community Capital, is working to turn the tide against the decline of manufacturing that has hit hard the economies of many parts of Virginia. Henderson says one of the biggest obstacles she faces is educating community leaders — many of whom have big factories sitting empty. Many of them keep hoping for another big factory to move in. A more practical approach, Henderson advises, is to focus on creating small, homegrown employers — lots and lots of small employers. “If you create 10 jobs in St. Paul, you have to be able to say that’s... Read more
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has lifted the Order to Cease and Desist placed on Carver Bancorp, Inc. by the Office of Thrift Supervision in 2011. The order, which required Carver to boost its Tier 1 capital and total risk-based capital ratios, came in the aftermath of the housing downturn and the recession. "The Federal Reserve Bank's action is the latest milestone in our extensive effort to restore the financial strength of our institution," said Michael Pugh, Carver Bancorp president and CEO. "We are pleased to put this chapter in our organization's history... Read more
The CDFI Fund recently announced $10.6 million in Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) prizes and $13.7 million in CDFI Program awards to CDBA members. But how are CDBA member banks using those funds to make a difference in their communities? Here are just a few examples.
Virginia Community Capital (CORE - $1.6M, HFFI - $1M)
Virginia Community Capital (VCC) is using their HFFI award to achieve the goals of Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s... Read more
The CDFI Fund has announced that nine additional bond loans, totaling $327 million, were guaranteed in FY 2015, bringing the total guaranteed through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program to $852 million. All of the bond proceeds will provide long-term, fixed rate capital for projects in low-income and underserved communities. Three bonds were issued on behalf of 9 eligible CDFIs. “I am very pleased to recognize the CDFIs that are creating new partnerships and innovative ways to fully utilize the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program,” said CDFI Fund Director Annie Donovan. “The program is reaching... Read more
Teri Williams, President of OneUnited Bank, discusses the OneUnited Mural Project in a feature for NBC News. "The OneUnited Mural Project and the landmark mural, Thunder & Enlightening, by internationally acclaimed muralist Addonis Parker, helped bridge the divide between the banking industry and urban communities by recognizing their struggles and aspirations," Williams writes. "The OneUnited Mural Project actually became a 12-week apprenticeship-based program - with 21 teen apprentices from 9 public schools... [The mural] has been well received by the community. In... Read more
Private equity and hedge fund firms have bought more than 100,000 troubled mortgages at a discount from banks and federal housing agencies, emerging as aggressive liquidators for the remains of the mortgage crisis. But the firms are now drawing fire from housing advocates and lawyers for borrowers who contend they are too quick to push homes into foreclosure and are unaccommodating when it comes to negotiating loan modifications with borrowers. Federal and state lawmakers are taking up the issue, questioning why federal agencies are selling loans at a discount of as much as 30 percent to... Read more
A recording is now available of yesterday's CDBA-hosted New Markets Tax Credit Webinar. The NMTC webinar explored the critical themes of the NMTC application, including key considerations when preparing for the NMTC application and tips for making an application as strong as possible. Speakers on the webinar include consultant Sean Zielenbach of SZ Consulting and representatives of successful NMTC allocatees Central Bank of Kansas City and City First Bank of D.C. Recordings are free to employees of CDBA member banks and available for a fee to registrants... Read more
CDBA invites all CDFI banks interested in applying for the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program to attend our NMTC webinar. The webinar will cover a range of topics, including determining whether NMTC is right for your institution and ensuring your application is as strong as possible. The webinar will feature expert input from NMTC consultant Sean Zielenbach of SZ Consulting as well as narratives from successful NMTC allocatees Central Bank of Kansas City and City First Bank of D.C. The webinar will be held Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 4:00 PM EST.... Read more
A series of internal memos document how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau struggled internally with how to end discrimination in auto lending. At the core of the debate was the practice of dealer markup, in which the dealership keeps the difference between the rate set by the lender and the one agreed to by the borrower as its compensation. The bureau debated whether it should cite a large lender in the hope of effectively ending the ability of partnering dealers to mark up loans with all lenders. On multiple occasions, CFPB officials suggested to forgo rulemaking and instead use a... Read more
All CDFI banks interested in the FHA Small Building Risk Sharing (SBRS) program are invited to join our SBRS program webinars. The SBRS program promotes multifamily housing project financing by providing lenders a 50% risk sharing arrangement with HUD. This webinar series consists of two sessions led by SBRS Initiative expert Diana Talios of the FHA. The first webinar (October 6, 2015) is an overview of the initiative including eligibility requirements, the application process and other timelines.... Read more
The CDFI Fund has announced five free webinars provided as part of the Capacity Building Initiative's "Expanding CDFI Coverage in Underserved Areas" series. The webinar series is intended to address the gaps in CDFI service coverage in underserved communities and will cover training topics developed for the series' in-person training sessions. The webinars are Expansion Strategies for Growth, Part One: Operational Efficiencies (October 6, 2015), Using Market Analysis for Expansion (October 27, 2015) Expansion Strategies for Growth, Part Two: Technology, People,... Read more
Dominik Mjartan, CEO of Southern Bancorp Community Partners hopes to level the economic playing field for the underserved. Mjartan said success should not be determined by ZIP code. Living in Helena-West Helena -- a place where Southern is active in economic development -- shouldn't mean people there can't be upwardly mobile. Southern Bancorp makes about $56 million a year in loans in Helena-West Helena’s Phillips County. In the last three years, Southern invested an additional $3 million focused on job creation and downtown revitalization. “To us, profit is a secondary... Read more
Sunrise Banks of Minneapolis, Minn. won a $2.2 million NEXT Opportunity Award to expand TrueConnect, its small-dollar, affordable employer-based loan. The Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance support innovations that transform how the unbanked and underbanked access responsible personal financial products and services. Sunrise Banks' convenient alternative to predatory loans integrates with employers’ payroll systems through the bank's proprietary software. Sunrise has successfully piloted True Connect with three employers and plans to expand the product. “The... Read more
Doyle Mitchell, CEO of Industrial Bank of Washington, D.C., testified before the United States House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access. His testimony focused on the impact of community bank regulatory burdens such as Dodd-Frank on small business lending. “The exponential growth of regulation in recent years is suffocating community banks’ ability to serve their small business customers," Mitchell said. "Compliance has become a major distraction for community bank managers. Any community banker will tell you that their job... Read more
In a new report, Opportunity Finance Network writes that the financial and portfolio performance of CDFIs is on par with those of conventional banks. In their analysis, based on a dataset of 209 OFN member CDFIs (predominantly loan funds), CDFIs averaged 15 percent loan growth per year. Their cumulative net loan loss rates were 1.5 percent -- on par with that of FDIC-insured institutions. The members have been responsible for over $35 billion in cumulative financing, development of 1.5 million housing units and the creation of 721,000 jobs. The CDFI lending was also highly targeted at... Read more
CDBA members and CDFI banks as a whole had a record year accessing Bank Enterprise Awards (BEA) and CDFI Program awards. Of the 83 banks receiving BEA funding, 67 were CDFI certified and 42 were CDBA members. This year’s BEA also continued a trend toward more prizes for community banks; 98% of the $18.1 million awarded went to banks with assets of less than $10 billion. CDFI banks also had a record year accessing the CDFI program awards. The 12 banks and bank holding company awardees received awards totaling $14.4 million (9 percent of the total awards), the largest amount ever awarded the... Read more
Community Bank of the Bay is supporting research into sustainable deep sea habitats by sponsoring the Marine Applied Research & Exploration (MARÉ)'s 3rd Annual MARÉ Soirée. Community Bank of the Bay's partnership with MARÉ is part of the bank's Bay Area Green Fund, which offers bank accounts that support financing of local and environmentally sustainable projects and businesses. "When I launched MARÉ in 2003, an accountant at Save the Bay recommended Community Bank of the Bay as a nonprofit-friendly bank that also gives back to the community," says MARÉ Executive... Read more