• IBANYS will e-mail, on November 1 our 2022-23 member bank dues invoices, as our new Fiscal year begins November 1. We'll include a summary of the past year, and IBANYS' strategic plans for the year ahead -- working together with our New York community bankers, associate members, preferred partners and all who contribute to keeping IBANYS fiscally strong and sound, politically effective, and a resource for education and information. Watch your inboxes for details!

• A reminder to members of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York: The FHLB recently sent out 2022 Ballots for the election of members of its Board of Directors. We need to have a New York community bank voice on the FHLBNY board. Please consider supporting Dave Nasca of Evans Bank with your vote. Any questions, please call me at 716.880.0518. about the FHLBNY 2022 election ballots for its board of directors.

• The Federal Reserve released its latest “Beige Book” -- a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in the twelve Fed districts.  In the New York region, regional bankers reported declines in loan demand across all loan segments, and almost all respondents indicated lower rates of refinancing activity. Credit standards generally remained unchanged across all loan categories. Loan spreads widened, most notably for business loans, and deposit rates continued to rise. Delinquency rates were unchanged across all loan categories. Economic activity continued to contract at a modest pace amidst ongoing but somewhat less severe worker shortages and supply disruptions. The home sales market continued to soften, and the rental market appears to have leveled off, as concerns about housing affordability persist. Commercial real estate markets were slightly weaker overall. Consumer spending remained flat. Check out the full details on both the New York region and nationally here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/BeigeBook_20221019.pdf

MEMBER BANKS

At Bank of Holland, our community roots run deep.

We first planted the seeds in 1893 and have been dedicated to a philosophy of giving back ever since. We firmly believe, as a local financial institution, we are stewards of the health of our community.

In addition to supporting the growth and development of local businesses, we are heavily active in cultural sponsorships, civic initiatives, and charity donations. A few examples of organizations we either sponsor, support, or donate to include:

• Town of Aurora Parks & Recreation  
•  Boys & Girls Club of Holland
•  Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora
• Boys & Girls Club of Elma Marilla & Wales
• United Way
•  Roycroft Chamber Music Festival
• Aurora Adult Day Services
• Aurora Ice Association

Additionally, we are active members of the following:

• Greater East Aurora Chamber of Commerce (Treasurer)
• Lancaster Area Chamber of Commerce 
•  Kiwanis Club of Holland
• Kiwanis Club of East Aurora
• Kiwanis Club of Elma

Click learn more about Bank of Holland.

Does your bank have news you’d like to share? If so, please send us an email (lindag@ibanys.net) and your news will be placed in our weekly e-newsletter.

We look forward to sharing your news and all that you do for and in your communities.

IBANYS MEETINGS

Chatter around inflation and the state of the economy is causing concern, cybersecurity controls are tightening, and financial trends like cryptocurrency are driving industry changes. It’s a lot to take in, but we’re ready to help you make sense of it all — and get a jump-start on the year ahead.

Wednesday, November 9

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EST | PMFA insights: Inflation, rising rates, and the growing risk of recession

3:30 – 4:30 p.m. EST | Cybersecurity: Rolling with the punches — Keep pace with regulatory changes and security needs

Thursday, November 10

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EST | Accounting and tax update [Concurrent sessions]

• For financial institutions
• For insurance companies

3:30 – 4:30 p.m. EST | Emerging trends: How cryptocurrency and ESG are impacting the industry

Learn more about these sessions and customize your experience — register for one or all. If you want to be prepared for the coming year, don’t miss this expert-led event.

Learn more here

• DFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris has announced a revised proposed regulation that will allow the DFS to collect data to evaluate how well New York-regulated banking institutions are serving minority- and women-owned businesses in their communities, pursuant to an expansion of New York State’s CRA Act. The revised proposed regulation, which is subject to a 45-day comment period following publication in the State Register, addresses comments received by DFS during a prior 60-day comment period. The revisions are intended to minimize compliance burdens by ensuring the proposed language complements requirements in the CFPB's proposed regulations for data collection on credit access for small and minority- and women-owned businesses.  Harris noted: “Banks must meet the needs of all consumers, including minority and women business owners, who historically have been denied fair access to credit. This revised regulation ensures DFS has the necessary data to verify that banks are providing equitable access to financial products, creating a fairer financial system.' It details how institutions must collect and submit the necessary data to DFS while abiding by fair lending laws. Banks will be required to ask whether a business applying for a loan or credit is minority- or women-owned and report to the Department the details of applications, such as the date; type of credit applied for and amount; and whether the application was approved or denied; as well as whether the applicant is a minority-owned business, a women-owned business, or both; the size of the business; and the location of the business. A copy of the updated proposed regulation can be found on the DFS website. 

• The state's unemployment rate is one-third of what it was compared to this time last year at 4.3%, but remains higher than the national average, according to unemployment data for September released by the state Department of Labor yesterday, State of Politics reports.   

• New York state's business tax climate continues to receive low marks from a national fiscal watchdog organization, according to The Tax Foundation, whose new ranking was released Tuesday. The state's overall tax climate ranks 49th out of 50 states, between California (ranked 48th) and neighboring New Jersey (50th). New York ranked last in personal taxes, 24th in corporate taxes, 49th in property taxes and 43rd in sales taxes.

• State Comptroller DiNapoli’s recent report on homeownership shows that New York has the lowest homeownership rate in the nation, with only 53.6% owning a home compared to 65.8% nationally. The report also highlights a troubling racial and ethnic disparity. . .Meanwhile, DiNapoli also said yesterday that earnings on Wall Street slumped in the first half of the year, marking an end to the pandemic boom that fueled an increase in bonuses. Pretax profits in New York City’s securities industry tumbled to $13.5 billion in the six months through June, down 56%. He predicted this year’s bonuses will probably drop as well, as firms set aside less for compensation in the first half -- his office noted: “Banks and the securities firms are now putting less aside in compensation than they did last year.” 

• Small businesses that incurred costs to increase Covid-19 safety can now apply for a $250 million tax credit program.

• The impact of the pandemic on businesses and jobs in upstate New York continues to linger.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Election Day is Tuesday, November 8 -- less than two weeks away -- with every seat in the New York State Legislature, New York Congressional Delegation and all statewide offices on the ballot.

Here is the latest political snapshot:

• Democratic Gov. Hochul and her Republican GOP challenger, Rep. Zeldin, faced off last night in their only scheduled debate and clashed over public safety, COVID-19 mandates, former President Trump, and rising crime and abortion access. . . and accused each other of corruption and dangerous extremism. The New York Times reports. Read More and Read More. . .Here’s what the candidates said, in their own words: Read More. . .You can also watch the full debate: Read More. Recent polls from Quinnipiac University and Siena College found Gov. Hochul with a narrowing lead over GOP candidate Zeldin. City & State’s Rebecca C. Lewis reported, neither poll paints a complete picture of the race. The pre-debate polling average had Hochul leading by 6.1%, according to Real Clear Politics: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/governor/ny/new_york_governor_zeldin_vs_hochul-7749.html

• New York is usually viewed as one of the nation’s most deeply Democratic states, the congressional redistricting process and other political factors have put it on the national political map this year as eight of New York’s 27 House districts are considered competitive. With control of Congress at stake, here are the eight New York House races to watch ahead of Election Day: https://enewspaper.nydailynews.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=86ee7eaf-1702-4764-a895-861d5fb8a62f. Meanwhile, City & State adds:  Here’s our tracker of every race.

• Decades of voting trends in New York recently culminated in a milestone Democratic majority in the state Senate; the party now controls 43 of the upper chamber’s 63 seats: That power dynamic could shift on Nov. 8, Newsday writes.

• "City & State" also reports there are multiple competitive New York State Senate races including incumbent vs. incumbent match-ups, open seats and efforts by former elected officials to make a political comeback. https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2022/10/previewing-2022-state-senate-elections-new-york/378439/  

• Nearly 96% of U.S. households were banked in 2021 despite economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDIC said.  The agency’s latest biennial National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households found an estimated 4.5% of U.S. households lacked a bank or credit union account, the lowest national unbanked rate since the FDIC survey began in 2009.   Meanwhile, 14.1% of households were underbanked last year, meaning they had a bank or credit union account and used nonbank financial products and services. The underbanked rate declined by roughly one-third since 2017. Approximately 1.2 million more households were banked since 2019, with nearly half of newly banked households saying government payments contributed to their decision to open an insured account. In 2011, 8.2% of households were unbanked, according to the survey.  Last year, 2.1% of White households were unbanked, compared with 11.3% of Black households and 9.3% of Hispanic households. The gaps are down from 2019, when unbanked rates were 2.5%, 13.8%, and 12.2% for White, Black, and Hispanic households, respectively. The survey also found: The use of mobile banking increased sharply among banked households since 2017 and was the most prevalent primary method of account access; The most commonly cited reasons for not having an account were not being able to meet minimum balances and not trusting banks, though the proportion of respondents citing fees or minimum balances fell from 38% in 2019 to 29.2% last year;  The use of check cashing and nonbank credit products, such as payday or pawn shop loans, decreased; The use of nonbank online payment services, such as PayPal and Venmo, increased. The historically low unbanked rates could undermine policymaker arguments touting ICBA-opposed proposals such as postal banking, Federal Reserve retail deposit “FedAccounts,” and a U.S. central bank digital currency as tools to access unbanked households.  Meanwhile, ICBA offers a directory of community banks that can open accounts remotely with a starting balance of $25 or less. Community banks can add their bank to the directory by completing an online form. . .The American Banker also has the story: Read story .

• Banks say the FDIC’s solution to add the ombudsman to an appeals committee as a nonvoting member wouldn't be enough to ensure the independence of the appeals process.  Read story →

• The CFPB will start its process for issuing a proposal under Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to establish standards for sharing consumer financial data, Director Rohit Chopra said. CFPB will issue a discussion guide that community banks and small financial companies can weigh in on under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. Once the SBREFA process is complete, the CFPB will issue its proposal, which will ultimately obligate financial institutions to share consumer data upon consumer request, accelerating the shift toward open banking and open finance. ICBA and other groups earlier this year called on the CFPB to initiate a rulemaking that defines “larger participants” in the data aggregation services market that should be subject to ongoing supervision. The groups noted in a joint petition that while the 1033 rule will apply to financial institutions and data aggregators, third-party aggregators are not subject to CFPB supervision.  The petition followed last year’s ICBA letter calling on the CFPB to ensure nonbanks that access customer financial information take the same care in protecting consumer privacy and data as community banks.

• ICBA continues urging community bankers to speak out against a proposed Durbin Amendment expansion as lawmakers work to advance the ICBA-opposed plan via a must-pass defense bill. Despite efforts by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) to attach their Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 (H.R. 8874/S. 4674) to the pending National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate version of the NDAA does not include the interchange bill. Nevertheless, the lawmakers are expected to attempt to add their bill as an amendment to the NDAA later this year.  The Credit Card Competition Act would require banks with over $100 billion in assets to offer merchants at least two networks to process credit cards, at least one of which cannot be owned by Visa or Mastercard. ICBA has repeatedly told lawmakers the bill would impose new costs on consumers and community banks, pose security risks, and end credit card rewards programs solely to bolster big-box retailers’ profits. Community bankers can use ICBA’s Be Heard grassroots action center and share its social media call to action on the bill to rally opposition in Congress. Additionally, the Electronic Payments Coalition—of which ICBA is a member—offers a “Hands Off My Rewards” campaign with resources encouraging consumers to weigh in against the legislation.

• Ahead of the Fed's interest rate-setting meeting next week, Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) warned Fed Chair Powell not to be overzealous in raising interest rates and risk damaging a historically strong labor market. He reminded Powell the Fed's dual mandate includes promoting "maximum employment" and asked that decisions reflect that mandate.  The Hill

• When Congress returns for a "lame duck" session after the midterms, Democrats predict an 'extremely busy' lame duck. Here's what's on the agenda. Democrats, who currently control both chambers, will face a ticking clock to enact key priorities if Republicans win back the House or manage to flip the Senate in the upcoming elections. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/23/politics/congress-lame-duck-session-agenda/?mkt_tok=ODUwLVRBQS01MTEAAAGHqQc6UxPveJAphz3dRbYTUfaERDGXyK4gySft_qbFjFAxZGfDxGCmNcdD4Vn4koVqsKU4ioB1KgTyy_fahJuTiP3aUZsLjckA4Jk2c8aNkzJR

• ICBA recently updated it “Advocacy in Action” government relations dashboard with the latest community banking advocacy successes and priorities. It spotlights hot-button community banking advocacy issues -- many of which IBANYS discussed last spring in Washington during our meetings with members of the New York Congressional Delegation -- including climate risk regulation, deposit insurance assessments, Durbin Amendment expansion, crypto, overdraft, small-business loan data collection, and more. Read more.

• ICBA and 44 state community banking associations – including IBANYS -- urged Congress to oppose legislation to create new credit card routing mandates that expand on Durbin Amendment interchange restrictions. The joint letter said the Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 (H.R. 8874/S. 4674) would impose new costs on consumers and community banks, pose security risks, and end credit card rewards programs solely to bolster big-box retailers’ profits. The ICBA-opposed bill would require banks with over $100 billion in assets to offer merchants at least two networks to process credit cards, at least one of which cannot be owned by Visa or Mastercard. Sens. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Marshall (R-Kan.) want to attach the measure to the pending National Defense Authorization Act. Community bankers can use ICBA’s Be Heard grassroots action center and share its social media call to action on the bill to rally opposition in Congress. Separately, the Electronic Payments Coalition—of which ICBA is a member—offers a “Hands Off My Rewards” campaign with resources encouraging consumers to weigh in against the legislation, which sponsors now may try to attach to the "must pass" end of year National Defense Appropriations Act.

• Republicans are pressing their advantage deep into Democratic territory in the closing stretch of the 2022 campaign, competing for an abundance of House seats even in the bluest parts of America, the Times reports.