October 9, 2020
IBANYS Weekly E-Newsletter
  • Visit our website at www.ibanys.net to review all our daily updates on COVID-19 beginning on March 16.

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IBANYS welcomes three newly elected members of our board of directors effective November 1. They are: Dan Reininga, President & CEO, Lake Shore Savings Bank; Bob Fisher, President & CEO, Tioga State Bank and Dave DeMarco, President & CEO, Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company. We are grateful for their willingness to share their time and guidance.
DIRECTORS COLLEGE PROGRAM
VIRTUAL - OCTOBER 14 - 9:00 - 12:30 ET
Join IBANYS and the FDIC for our annual Directors College which will be held virtually this year.
 
Attendees of the Directors College will learn about the fundamental elements of effective board governance during uncertain times, and the directors’ role in establishing and maintaining the governance framework.
 
Explore governance in the context of problem loan oversight, including loan modifications, performance assessment, internal risk ratings, and fair lending.
 
Members of the FDIC regional management team will highlight emerging issues, answer participant questions, and discuss topics raised by participants. 


WEBINARS
October 2020
IBANYS Webinars

Are you participating in IBANYS webinars? Now is the time! IBANYS webinars provide timely, important information on subjects of interest to New York community bankers including human resources, business development, investment, compliance and security and much more. They are valuable not only for their content, but for their convenience and low-cost. Take part from the comfort and privacy of your office, without leaving the bank. 
Subscription Tokens
The More You Buy, The More You Save
 
How does it work:
Tokens can be used to purchase live or recorded webinars anytime, with no expiration! Tokens for both live and recorded webinars are available for an additional fee. (What’s the difference? Click here for the full description.)
 
Once you have your Subscription Token code, you can immediately register for webinars by using the code at checkout! (Subscription tokens not applicable for full series registrations, or other specials.)
IBANYS Preferred Partners & Associate Members
How to Navigate Audits in a Remote World
Tuesday, October 13, 2020, at 10 a.m. ET
Together they’ll cover:

  • What to expect during the remote audit process — from start to finish
  • How to manage the remote audit workforce, including how to communicate with the remote audit team
  • Best practices for a successful audit
 
Click here for registration details.
Click here for more information regarding the webinar. 


Balance Sheet Planning for Year-End and Beyond
ICBA Securities and its exclusively endorsed broker/dealer, Vining Sparks, will present a webinar on October 13th exclusively for the state associations that endorse ICBA Securities, as well as all other community banks. This is the 8th webinar of the 2020 webinar series.

WEBINAR: Smarter Loan Reviews – NOW
Choose your date and time that works best for you.

Thursday, October 8th at 11:00am EDT

Tuesday, October 20th at 2:00pm EDT

Duration: 45 minutes

Cost: Free

Webinar description:
COVID-19 has skewed traditional credit risk management, including fewer and delayed loan reviews. The current economic stress dictates, and regulators and bankers know, Now is NOT the time to forego loan reviews. Why? Combined temporary stimulus and regulatory relief programs have effectively masked actual portfolio credit risk. Banks must now begin the hard work of determining loan-by-loan credit risk profiles. Join our webinar to see a new approach to efficiently address all the backed-up loan reviews that have been delayed due to COVID-19. We’ll show how you can use technology to simplify the entire loan review process — with a powerful diagnostic engine — whether performed internally or externally. Don’t rely on a business model that hasn’t changed in 30+ years to do what’s needed now. Attend this webinar to learn more.
Pursuit Announces Chief Executive Officer Succession Plan
President and CEO Pat MacKrell to Retire; New President and Leadership Team Announced.

Following a 20-year career with Pursuit, a leading provider of alternative business financing, President and Chief Executive Officer Pat MacKrell has announced his retirement effective December 31, 2021. 

Albany Update
The New York State Legislature is still planning to reconvene, most likely virtually, either before election day or more likely in a post-election "lame duck" session. The agenda will no doubt focus on the state's financial and fiscal situation. The state stands to lose an estimated $30 billion problem in tax revenue over the next two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the State Division of Budget. State sales tax revenue (a significant funding source for local governments) was down 8% in August from one year ago. State tax revenues were $3.2 billion lower in the first eight months of 2020 compared to 2019. While the Governor still hopes for federal assistance, talks in Washington appear to be at a halt -- and remain hard to predict -- on another relief package. Governor Cuomo has reportedly amassed enough money to avoid major cuts to this year’s $177 billion spending plan, but budget director Megna says using the funds would merely worsen the state’s financial crunch. Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the credit ratings of both New York City and New York state, a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic’s mounting toll on the New York economy. The Legislature will no doubt review a number of other options to raise revenue, such as:
 
  • Eliminating the rebates the state currently provides on stock transfers;
  • Enacting higher income taxes on those with more than $1 million in annual income, and creating a new tax on super wealthy people with more than $1 billion in assets. 
  • Looking to the New York City real estate market for relief, reviving talk of the “pied-à-terre” property tax surcharge on qualifying non-primary residences within the state. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/covid-19-real-estate-revival-new-york-pied-terre-tax;
 
The Legislature would also likely consider additional forbearance legislation for residential investment properties and commercial retail space mortgage payments -- which were strongly opposed by IBANYS in original form. IBANYS opposes the legislation, and is working with the Legislature and the NYS DFS. The legislation, and IBANYS' Memo in Opposition, may be accessed in the links below.

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On Wednesday, October 14 the NYS Senate Committees on Banks and on Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business will be hold a Joint Public Hearing to examine "Access to Capital for Small Businesses During the COVID-19 Pandemic." IBANYS is planning to testify at this online hearing, and will be represented by IBANYS board member Anders Tomson, President & CEO, Chemung Canal Trust Company.
 
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Reminder: IBANYS worked with the NYS Department of Financial Services (DFS) as it prepared and issued a "FAQ On Forbearance For Residential Mortgages Held In Portfolio By NYS Chartered Banks." The FAQ document may be accessed through the link below: https://ibanys.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FAQ-on-Mortgage-Forbearance-Bill-7.22.20-Dist-update-2.pdf
 
Washington Update
On Tuesday, President Trump instructed his representatives to stop negotiating with House Democrats on coronavirus relief until after the election, effectively ending the possibility of additional package passing before election day. Then hours later, he suggested he would be open to Congress passing stand-alone measures to send direct payments to Americans, $25 billion to assist the struggling airline industry and $135 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program - a piecemeal approach that's been mostly rejected by Pelosi.

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The SBA said it began approving Paycheck Protection Program forgiveness applications and sending payments to lenders on Friday, Politico reported. The announcement offers the first glimmer of certainty for borrowers and lenders over forgiveness of PPP loans, nearly 60 percent of which were originated by community banks. The SBA began accepting forgiveness applications in August and has 90 days to act on them. The agency recently told Congress that it has received forgiveness requests for less than 2 percent of PPP loans as lawmakers consider ICBA-advocated legislative proposals to streamline the forgiveness process. With congressional and administration officials on Tuesday calling off negotiations over another economic stimulus package, ICBA continues urging community bankers to call their members of Congress and enlist the support of small-business contacts on behalf of a standalone PPP forgiveness reform bill. ICBA's Be Heard grassroots action center includes call alerts for small-business owners and community bankers on behalf of legislation to forgive PPP loans of $150,000 or less.

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IBANYS has previously urged New York Congressional Delegation To Support PPP Changes. As the stalemate between Congress and the Trump administration regarding the next coronavirus legislative package continues, IBANYS has written to the New York Congressional Delegation (and shared the letter with members of the NYS Legislature as an FYI) urging support of a number of important changes ICBA has suggested be made to the Paycheck Protection Program. Read IBANYS' letter to Congress. Read IBANYS letter