Is it enough to object to the current method by which banks’ CRA activities are audited and evaluated, without first offering a viable alternative based in objective industry knowledge, market demographics, and needs of each local community? [Continue]
There is plenty of evidence that community banks, even those that specifically seek to serve underrepresented groups, find a challenge in maintaining a pipeline of CRA eligible loan activities. [Continue]
Bankers certainly don’t need the additional recordkeeping responsibilities, and I can’t believe when it passed tax reform that Congress wanted to create a significant tax difference between sub S and C corp banks. [Continue]
A recent order from the SEC indicates concern that private companies must comply with the exact same rules as publicly-traded companies. [Continue]
The new standard eliminates the “probable” recognition threshold in current generally accepted accounting principles, and instead reflects an organization’s current estimate of all expected credit losses over the contractual term of its financial assets. [Continue]
Leadership at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is likely to become a hot political topic again. Mick Mulvaney was appointed to lead the CFPB as by President Donald Trump last November after the previous leader, Richard Cordray, resigned to run for Governor of Ohio. Cordray resigned before the end of his statutory term, however, and President Trump appointed Mulvaney as “acting director” until a permanent director could be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. That temporary appointment ends June 22. [Continue]
For many years, a successful Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering program rested on four pillars of compliance: internal policies and procedures, the designation of a BSA officer, employee training and independent review. Auditors and examiners, intimately familiar with these four requirements, have evaluated the programs at every regulated financial institution using the pillars as the benchmark for a successful BSA program. [Continue]
The development and deployment of NMLS, the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System, forever changed an industry. It created the means to validate mortgage professionals — in the eyes of both regulators and the public — as properly licensed and operating in good standing, a development that help bring much-needed stability to a troubled market. [Continue]
The resignation of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau presents an opportunity. I hope the new director of the bureau focuses on under-regulated sectors of the financial services industry, leaving banks to the regulatory oversight of the Fed, OCC, FDIC and/or state regulators. [Continue]
FDIC offers advice to those considering de novos. [Continue]