| | |
Marketing
“I Luv My Community Bank” Contest Open
Is your bank participating in the “I Luv My Community Bank” campaign? The testimonial contest begins today in celebration of Valentine’s Day.
ICBA is collecting submissions via the campaign’s unique interactive website, Facebook app,
and Twitter (tweet using the hashtag #ILuvMyCB). Be sure to direct consumers and small businesses to see contest rules so that they can be eligible as one of the top 10 finalists revealed via the Facebook app on Monday, April 15. The app will host a voting function from Monday, April 15, to Tuesday, April 30, for the public to determine the five winners for 2013, which will be announced on May 1.
The campaign is designed to promote the importance of community banks and will complement Community Bank Month in April and the nationally recognized Go Local initiative. Sign Up Today!
ICBA
Fine Issues Valentine’s Message to Community Banks
As Americans gather last-minute Valentine’s Day gifts, ICBA is getting into the spirit itself, ICBA President and CEO Cam Fine wrote in a message to community bankers. Valentine’s Day gives the association an opportunity to proclaim its unwavering commitment to the nation’s community banks, which keep Main Street America thriving every day, Fine wrote.
“Born
out of advocacy for a tiered regulatory approach and against the growth of systemically risky financial giants, ICBA has maintained its dedication to Main Street institutions ever since,” Fine wrote. “While the banking world has changed dramatically in the more than eight decades since our association was founded, ICBA’s convictions to protect community banking have only strengthened.” Read Fine’s Message.
Congress
Senate Banking Leaders Express Concerns with Basel III Impact
Senate
Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) expressed concerns with the potential impact of proposed Basel III capital guidelines on community banks.
In a letter to federal financial regulators, the committee leaders wrote that including accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) in capital may increase volatility and make interest rate risk more difficult for community banks to manage. Johnson and Crapo also wrote that proposed risk weights could have an adverse impact on small banks’ ability to offer and service mortgages and expressed concerns with applying the rules to insurance companies and subsidiaries.
ICBA has repeatedly called on policymakers to exempt community banks from the Basel III proposals. In a statement for the record
for a November Senate Banking Committee hearing, ICBA wrote that the proposed capital standards should not apply to financial institutions with $50 billion or less in assets.
Further, in a November House Financial Services Committee hearing, ICBA Chairman-Elect William A. Loving Jr. told lawmakers that applying Basel III and the standardized approach to community banks would lead to further industry consolidation, leaving consumers with fewer options and less access to credit.
ICBA continues to work closely with Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Crapo and their staff to help ensure regulators do not harm community banks and their ability to lend with the Basel III rules. Regulators are expected to release Basel III final rules this year.
ICBA NewsWatch Today is sponsored by QR Lending:
New mortgage rules have some community banks questioning their future in residential mortgage lending. We’ve got the answer. Partner with a mortgage service provider who places you and your customers first. With QR Lending, you’ll benefit from your own Dedicated Loan Coordinator and dramatic 2-3 day turnarounds—loan-origination technology included. Call 888.766.4734 or register for a webinar. Equal Housing Lender.
Regulation
CFPB
Releases Implementation Plan for New Mortgage Rules
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a plan it will implement over the next year that focuses on the mortgage industry’s compliance with consumer protections taking effect in January 2014. The regulations, required under the Dodd-Frank Act, include the bureau’s rules on qualified mortgages, mortgage servicers, appraisals, escrow accounts, protections for high-cost mortgages, and loan-originator compensation and qualifications.
The
CFPB said that to support rule implementation and ensure the industry is ready for the new borrower protections, the CFPB will:
- Coordinate with other agencies to promote a consistent regulatory experience,
- Publish plain-language guides in written and video forms,
- Publish updates to the official interpretations over the next year,
- Publish readiness guides to help mortgage originators and servicers prepare for compliance, and
- Educate consumers on the new protections.
Security
President Issues Executive Order on Cybersecurity
President Barack Obama issued an executive order
to improve critical infrastructure cybersecurity. The order tasks the National Institute of Standards and Technology with leading the development of a framework to reduce cyber-risks to critical infrastructure. The NIST will issue a request for information in the Federal Register to gather initial information on the considerations, challenges and efforts needed to develop the framework.
The executive order rests on three pillars:
- Information sharing: The order directs the government to share unclassified cyber-threat information to private industry and disseminate classified cyber-threat information to appropriately cleared critical infrastructure entities.
- Privacy:
Agencies must ensure that privacy and civil liberties protections are incorporated into their activities.
- Framework in Standards: The framework developed by Commerce and NIST will include a set of standards, methodologies, procedures and processes to reduce the cyber-risks to critical infrastructure. NIST will work with the industry to come up with mutually agreed-upon specifications that are open, participatory and voluntary.
Housing
FHA: Fiscal 2013 To Determine Mortgage Fund
Whether the Federal Housing Administration will need to draw on assistance from Treasury depends on the agency’s performance in fiscal 2013, an FHA official told Congress. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, Assistant Secretary Carol Galante said the single-family loan program’s performance will be affected by steps the FHA has taken to increase revenue and reduce losses.
The
FHA recently increased mortgage-insurance premiums as part of a series of changes to strengthen its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, which has a projected economic value of negative $16.3 billion. The FHA is increasing premiums for most new mortgages and will require most borrowers to continue paying annual premiums for the life of their mortgage loan.
Regulation
OCC’s Curry Details Run-Up to Mortgage-Servicer Settlement
Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry
discussed regulators’ thought processes in the run-up to a $9.3 billion settlement with large mortgage servicers. Curry said that regulators agreed that the money that servicers were paying consultants to conduct the Independent Foreclosure Review would be better spent helping distressed borrowers.
The OCC chief said that shutting down the independent review and reaching the settlement, which included $3.6 billion in payments to 4.2 million eligible borrowers, will get more money to more people more quickly.
Curry separately noted regulators’ commitment to not adding unnecessary regulatory burdens on community banks.
Regulation
Tarullo: Fed Staff Researching Megabank Structures
Federal Reserve Board staff are actively working to improve the agency’s understanding of the organizational structure and functioning of the largest financial institutions, Fed Gov. Daniel Tarullo wrote in a letter to Rep. Edward Royce (R-Calif.). In the letter, which was published by Politico, Tarullo wrote that staff are gathering information on potential market impacts of proposed mergers and acquisitions as well as new sources of information to enrich future analysis.
Congress
House
Ag Committee Sets Agenda for 113th Congress
The House Agriculture Committee met to plan its agenda for 113th Congress. Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) said the committee will hold its first hearing in two weeks on the state of the rural economy and how producers are faring with ongoing drought problems. The committee also plans to evaluate the implementation of the one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill, to examine the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and to reauthorize the CFTC. The committee also will examine the regulatory burden faced by producers.
Congress
Senate Wall Street Reform Hearing Today
Representatives from the Treasury Department and federal financial regulators will be on Capitol Hill today for a hearing on implementing Wall Street reform. The Senate Banking Committee hearing, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. (Eastern time), will focus on each agency’s implementation of Wall Street reform, including significant milestones and rulemakings that the agencies have not yet finalized. The hearing also will focus on the next stage of implementation, including impacts of finalized rules on regulated institutions.
Read Hearing Memo. Watch the Hearing.
Economy
Retail Sales Up Slightly
Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in January and were up 4.4 percent from a year ago, the Commerce Department reported.
Total sales from November through January were up 4.5 percent from the same period a year ago. The December 2012 increase was unchanged at 0.5 percent.
In the News
CEO Series Features ICBA Community Bankers
A new NerdWallet.com CEO series
focused on small-business lending features several ICBA community bankers. The articles feature Bank of the West Vice Chairman and COO Cynthia Blankenship, Pendleton Community Bank President and CEO William Loving Jr., Eagle Bancorp President and CEO Ronald Paul, and Grand Rapids State Bank President, CEO and Vice Chairman Noah Wilcox, among other small-business lenders. The community banking articles are a result of ICBA’s active media outreach efforts to help tell the positive story of community banks and their role in small-business lending.
In Remembrance
Past ICBA President J.R. Nunn Dies
Former
ICBA president Jonathan Ray (J.R.) Nunn died last month in Amarillo, Texas. He was 86. Nunn served as ICBA president (the volunteer post now known as chairman) in 1988-89. After starting his career as a community banker in Las Vegas, he served 44 years as the executive leader of Citizens Bank in Tucumcari, N.M. Survivors include his wife, Jackie; daughter, Jackie; and sons, Ron and Jeff.
Poll
This Week’s Quick Poll
Take this week’s Quick Poll
on the impact of new Federal Housing Administration rules on private mortgage insurance, and view results from the previous poll on the new FHA rules. View the Archive.
Education
ICBA Manuals Offer Auditing Boost
Give your internal auditing department a boost with ICBA auditing manuals. Each manual contains valuable information, schedules, checklists, questionnaires, procedures, sample policies, working papers and more. Learn More.
Education
ICBA, FHLBank Webinar Series Continues
ICBA and the Federal Home Loan Banks continue their webinar series with a webinar next week on how the FHLBanks can help community banks better manage risk. The next webinar, slated for 3 p.m. (Eastern time) Wednesday, Feb. 20, will cover how to manage risks related to interest rates, liquidity, investments and more. Learn More and Register.
Education
Upcoming Webinar on How To Earn CRA Credit
ICBA
and the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation are hosting an upcoming webinar on how to earn CRA credit by making community development loans, qualified investments and grants that provide safe and secure living environments for senior housing residents through the Senior Crimestoppers program. This program has been reviewed by the federal regulatory agencies and has passed the rigors of multiple exams. The webinar is scheduled for 11 a.m. (Eastern time) Thursday, Feb. 21. Register Online.
Products and Services
Free Webinar: Understanding Small-Business Borrowers
WebEquity is hosting a free webinar at 2 p.m. (Eastern time) Thursday, Feb. 21, to help community banks better understand the needs of small-business borrowers. Attendees will be better equipped to compete for these loans and to accurately assess the health and well-being of these borrowers. Register Online.
Products and Services
Free Webinar: Non-Interest Expense Strategies that Work
Bank
Intelligence is hosting a free webinar at 2 p.m. (Eastern time) Thursday, Feb. 21, to examine the challenges banks face in managing non-interest expense. One area of focus will be the growing burden of regulatory compliance and tactical ideas for reducing compliance costs. Register Online.
|
| | | | |
|
