In This Issue

• Deadline Nearing to Order 2017 Scenes of South Dakota Calendar
• SDBA To Hold IRA School Sept. 7-9
• Nichols Provides Thorough Response to Flawed White House Report
• CFPB Highlights Role of Banks in Helping Prevent Elder Fraud
• Fund Ads Urge Passage of TAILOR Act
• CFPB Responds to Senate Letter on Tailored Regulation

Deadline Nearing to Order 2017 Scenes of South Dakota Calendar

The SDBA is offering its 2017 Scenes of South Dakota Calendar, and the deadline to place your order and get the low price of $1.19 per calendar is Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016.

The calendar will feature photos of South Dakota submitted by South Dakota bankers, their family members and customers. Your bank, branch or business' logo and name can be printed on each calendar to display in homes and businesses all year long. 

The Scenes of South Dakota calendars are exclusive to SDBA member banks and associate members. These calendars are a great opportunity to thank your customers for their business and promote your bank or business. The SDBA logo is also included to emphasize the strength and security of South Dakota's banking industry. 

All orders will be shipped Nov. 1, 2016. Place your order today.

SDBA To Hold IRA School Sept. 7-9

There is still time to register for the SDBA's IRA School Sept. 7-9 at the Clubhouse Hotel & Suites in Sioux Falls. This is the most comprehensive IRA training you will receive this year.

IRAs still have unlimited potential. Fewer people are qualifying for pensions, and more than 50 percent of all employees work for an employer that doesn’t offer any type of retirement plan. IRAs are the alternative, so let’s work together to see how we can increase your IRAs.

Learn more and register for the school today.

Nichols Provides Thorough Response to Flawed White House Report

 
In a letter yesterday to Jason Furman, chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols provided a more detailed response to claims in a CEA report that that the Dodd-Frank Act and other regulations have had little to no effect on community bank consolidation.

“Having thoroughly reviewed the report, I must admit to being baffled by your findings,” Nichols wrote. “A conversation with any community banker would dispel this forced conclusion. The thousands of new regulations that have been imposed on community banks is an enormous driver of decisions to sell to a larger bank.”

Nichols noted that the industry has consolidated substantially since Dodd-Frank was enacted, with 22 percent fewer banking charters since 2010. Dodd-Frank rules that affect all banks--such as the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures--as well as rules intended for larger banks that get interpreted as “best practices” for community institutions have contributed to an expensive and excessive regulatory burden that can drive decisions to sell, Nichols explained.

He quoted a banker in the Northeast whose bank recently sold: “The effects of Dodd-Frank…resulted in financial projections showing substantial declines in revenues and increases in compliance costs, reaching the point that in a few short years an otherwise healthy community bank with strong capital and satisfactory earnings could no longer meet a number of financial benchmarks set by the regulators,” this banker told ABA. “These conclusions forced the bank to sell now when our shareholders and some of our employees would be less adversely affected.”

Nichols also challenged the CEA’s interpretation of the de novo drought. “Sadly, the forces that have acted to stop new bank charters are the same ones that have led to the dramatic consolidation of the banking industry--excessive and complex regulations that are not tailored to the risks of specific institutions,” he said.

Nichols challenged Furman to ask “how prudent regulatory relief will contribute to economic growth,” adding that “each day another community bank leaves the field, it makes that community--and our economy--poorer.” Read Nichols' letter.

CFPB Highlights Role of Banks in Helping Prevent Elder Fraud

Hundreds of communities across the country have developed coordinated local efforts to prevent, detect and respond to elder financial abuse, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report issued Tuesday. The report emphasizes the importance of collaboration among financial institutions, local law enforcement and adult protective services agencies to stem the multi-billion-dollar elder fraud problem.

The report and an associated resource guide for communities emphasized the value of including banks in these partnerships. “[M]embers of networks in states that include financial institution representatives said that law enforcement, APS and prosecutors were able to act quickly to protect victims from further losses as a result of relationships they developed with network members from banks and credit unions,” the bureau said. The report highlighted positive examples of state association partnerships in Oklahoma and Oregon, both of which are also champions of ABA’s Safe Banking for Seniors campaign.

The resource guide highlighted ABA and the state associations as a primary resource for community networks looking to partner with banks. The guide recommended that community networks engage with branch managers, compliance officers, community outreach staff and marketers at banks.

• Read the report.
• Read the resource guide.
• Learn more about Safe Banking for Seniors.

Fund Ads Urge Passage of TAILOR Act

The Fund for Economic Growth this week is running ads in the local papers of four members of Congress urging enactment of the TAILOR Act (H.R. 2896), a bill that would require regulators to tailor rules to a bank’s risk profile.

The ads running in the districts of Reps. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.), Mia Love (R-Utah) and Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) note the representatives’ support for the TAILOR Act and urge the lawmakers to go the next step and push for enactment of the legislation. The ad running in Speaker Paul Ryan’s district stresses moving the bill forward.

“Rep. Scott Tipton understands what it takes to grow the economy and create jobs. By sponsoring the TAILOR Act (H.R. 2896), he recognizes that commonsense regulation is needed to allow credit to flow and the economy to soar,” reads the ad for Rep. Tipton, who authored the bill. “Thank Rep. Tipton for championing the TAILOR Act. Urge him--and Congress--to move the bill--and the economy--forward.”

The Fund for Economic Growth is a 501c4 established by ABA bankers in 2012 to promote the important role that banks and pro-growth policies play in supporting local, state, and national economies. Thanks in part to ABA’s Power Up initiative, the number of banker donors and donations to the Fund this year has more than doubled, providing more resources for it to fulfill its mission. View the ad. Donate to the Fund.

CFPB Responds to Senate Letter on Tailored Regulation

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray replied last week to a letter spearheaded by Senate Banking Committee members Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) that urged the bureau to exempt community banks and credit unions from certain regulations. The letter, cosigned by a bipartisan group of 70 senators, had cited a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act allowing the bureau to exempt “any class” of entity from its rulemakings.

In his response, Cordray stressed that the Dodd-Frank Act also charges the bureau with enforcing consumer financial protection laws “consistently” in order to promote fair competition. However, he also listed actions the CFPB has taken to tailor regulations, including an expanded safe harbor for small creditors, expanded exemptions for rural and underserved areas, relaxed appraisal requirements for small creditors, and a Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting exemption for lower-volume depository institutions.

Cordray also noted the CFPB’s required use of Small Business Review Panels in its rulemakings, its Community Bank Advisory Council, and the compliance resources posted on its website. “[T]he Bureau recognizes that community banks and credit unions did not cause the financial crisis,” Cordray concludes. “For that reason, the Bureau is committed to ensuring that the regulations that we promulgate are well-tailored and effective.” Read Cordray’s letter. Read the senators’ letter.