February 3, 2021
IBANYS Weekly E-Newsletter
  • Visit our website at www.ibanys.net to review our daily updates on COVID-19.
The President's Message
By John Witkowski, President & CEO 

  • We hope you will be joining us tomorrow (Thursday, February 4) for our second IBANYS educational program of the new year: Our half-day Regulatory Compliance Webinar. It will offer insight and information from regulatory agencies and from subject matter experts. Our focus will be on how community banks can develop and maintain a solid regulatory compliance program. We'll hear from the FDIC, the OCC, NYS DFS and Shield Compliance.The session is designed for your bank's auditors, compliance officers, BSA officers, risk/fraud officers, inside and outside counsels, and operations officers. If you have not yet signed up, check out the item in today's newsletter -- it includes registration information and the agenda.

  • FYI: Next on our meetings calendar will be our March 2 Directors Webinar. Details will be coming soon, so watch this space and your email inboxes.

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Smaller lenders are once again leading the way in the new round of PPP. Insured depository institutions under $10 billion in assets have made more than half of 2021 first- and second-draw Paycheck Protection Program loans, according to SBA data. The latest breakdown shows these institutions have approved more than 453,000 PPP loans worth $39.4 billion out of the total count of 891,044 loans worth $72.7 billion approved through Jan. 31. Of the 2021 PPP loan total, nearly $68 billion has been approved for second-draw loans and nearly $4.8 billion for first-draw loans. Additional PPP information and resources are available on the SBA and Treasury  sites, ICBA's  PPP and EIP News  page, the Independent Bankers Association of Texas's  matrix of PPP updates  in the stimulus law, and  ICBA's summary  of the stimulus package's community banking provisions.


We have new information in today's newsletter regarding ICBA's new federal issues agenda for 2021, as well as updates from and about the SBA, PPP, new and pending legislation in Albany, updates on the status of the proposed new coronavirus package and more. . .It's a very busy time and as always, IBANYS will continue to closely monitor all developments at the state and federal level, and keep you fully informed as the situations evolve. Stay safe and healthy!
Here. For You! For 25 Years!
We're proud to mark 25 years of serving small business customers and families in the #ROC region. Visit our special anniversary webpage at www.grbbank.com/25-years. Thank you to our customers, partners and employees for an amazing quarter century. Can't wait for the next 25 years! #GRBproud


IBANYS 2021 Virtual Education Meetings
Community Bank Compliance Update - Live Webinar
Compliance is one of the most crucial and consuming issues in the financial industry today. The Regulatory agencies encourage all banks to have a comprehensive and well managed compliance program. Compliance officers are responsible for developing and maintaining a bank wide compliance program that includes monitoring and training.
 
This regulatory update will offer insight and instruction from regulatory agencies and subject matter experts on developing and maintaining a solid compliance program.
 
Mark Your Calendars & Save These dates -- More Information Coming Soon!!
  • Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - Directors Webinar - 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Watch your emails and the weekly newsletter for more information on these programs and additional dates to be added.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS & PREFERRED PARTNERS
The BHG Virtual Bank Seminar
Tuesday, February 9, 2021 -
1:00 - 4:00 p.m. EST
In a low-interest rate world, premium borrowers may become more challenging for banks to acquire. Join us as Albert Crawford and his executive team showcase their expertise and robust technology that was designed to help community banks quickly fill this void and surpass their interest income goals. - Hear how BHG’s data scientists analyze premium borrowers data to develop their target marketing strategies. - Understand the levels of underwriting involved in approving a BHG loan. - Gain comfort by hearing the positive perspective of regulators on this program. - Receive an introduction to the additional products and programs available to you
TKG Featured in American Banker
Our own Bob Kafafian and Jeff Marsico recently spoke with American Banker about Jeff’s promotion to President of TKG and about the state of the industry for community banks.
 
An all-time great finance movie, The Big Short opens with, "It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble, it's what you know for sure that just ain't so," which they attribute to Mark Twain. Considered universally true and yet there's zero proof of him ever saying this line—funny isn't it?
We tend to take fact at face value and assume something is true based solely on the credibility of those who state it—who hasn't been guilty of this at least once or twice?
During this session, we're going to show you what those "experts" you rely on are telling you, that just ain't so. We'll share the most important ideas and concepts in finance that execs, like you, must focus on in 2021. 
We'll answer question like: 
  • Are the balance sheet decisions I'm making now going to help my net interest income compression? Or are they making it worse?
  • What is my economic risk of deploying this mountain of liquidity? What's the risk if I don't?
What do my regulators really think of my bank's risk and how can I make sure my strategies moving forward don't affect it?
Commercial Lending Academy
March 22-26, 2021
Virtual Training

This intensive, week-long workshop is designed to provide immediate, tangible training for employees new to commercial lending and to improve skills of less-experienced commercial lenders.
 
AUDIENCE
  • Branch managers
  • Credit analysts
  • Personal and private bankers
  • Entry level lenders
  • Mid-level lenders needing a refresher course
  • Any employee assuming commercial lending responsibilities
 
TOPICS
  • Loan structuring
  • Loan packages and business writing skills
  • Loan policy concepts and risk ratings
  • Loan pricing concepts
  • Analyzing personal financial statements and tax returns
  • Introduction to business financial statements and tax returns
  • Real estate lending fundamentals
  • Business development and sales skills

FEATURES
  • 42 hours of instruction are scheduled.
  • Enrollment will be limited to ensure greater interaction with the instructor case leaders and peers.
Tuition is $1,195
Richard Hamm
President of Advantage Consulting and Training
  • Barret Graduate School of Banking
  • Graduate School of Banking at Wisconsin 
  • Pittsburgh RMA Commercial Lending School
  • BAI Graduate Schools of Banking
  • Published 20 articles in The RMA Journal
  • On the RMA Journal Editorial Advisory Board
  • ABA Commercial Lending Graduate School
  • Over 15 years as a Commercial Lender
  • Received MBA from the University of Alabama
  • Southwestern Graduate School of Banking
News from ICBA
ICBA is pleased to announce ICBA Connect to be held on March 9-10, 2021. Get ready for a virtual experience unlike anything you’ve seen before!
This event will bring together great minds from across the nation to celebrate and focus on community banks. Through diverse topics ranging from leadership and strategy, to innovation and inspiration, ICBA Connect will dive into the content that matters most today – all through the lens of community banks. Connect is a chance to discover how community banks are not only navigating the current landscape but leading the way for their communities.
Robert Fisher, President & CEO of Tioga Bank, former IBANYS Chairman and longtime IBANYS board member, is Chairman-Elect. We hope you will join IBANYS and attend virtually as we congratulate Bob, a fifth generation New York community banker.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson and
Matthew McConaughey

This is an opportunity that doesn’t come around every day — to hear from two legends — one of the most talented and decorated players in the history of the NBA and an Academy Award-winning actor, philanthropist, and storyteller.

ICBA is proud to announce during ICBA Connect (March 9-10), a virtual event for your whole team, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Matthew McConaughey will empower, entertain, and leave you thinking about how you can make a difference in your community.

Connect with these influential figures who have shaped the world—in profoundly positive ways.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson kicks off ICBA Connect with "The Magic of Winning." Magic tells his story of transitioning from the basketball court to the boardroom. Already with a legacy on the court, Johnson currently serves as chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, which provides high-quality products and services that focus primarily on ethnically diverse and underserved urban communities. Johnson takes you on a quest to make a difference in your community.
Matthew McConaughey closes out the program with a one-on-one conversation with ICBA’s very own president and CEO, Rebeca Romero Rainey. After penning "Greenlights," what he calls a love letter to life, McConaughey shares lessons from his life and career, the impact of philanthropy, and the importance of following your passion. McConaughey reminds you to connect with grace, truth and the beauty of being alive. 
Questions to answers
Net interest margin in jeopardy? Here are some solutions.
By Jim Reber
To start out the year, I’d like to both properly memorialize the late, great Alex Trebek and provide some helpful suggestions for investment management for this challenging rate environment in which we find ourselves. And I’d like to do it in the space of this column, so let’s pick up our signaling devices and see what answers we have in front of us.
WEBINARS
computer hands
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.)
Albany Update

  • Housing advocates and a top Senate Democrat have a $2.2 billion plan to help struggling tenants and small landlords. State Senator Gianaris (D-Queens) and tenant groups are calling on Gov. Cuomo to set aside the hefty sum in the state budget to clear back rent that has built up during the COVID crisis.


  • In one of the first direct challenges from a member of the Legislature’s Democratic majority to Governor Cuomo, Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), who chairs of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, called the findings in the Attorney General’s nursing home report "an intentional underreporting of deaths" and urged the Legislature to begin oversight hearings. Krueger raised the possibility of oversight hearings and clipping some of Governor Cuomo's powers granted to him by the Legislature during the pandemic.

  • The Legislature is reviewing and will be responding to Governor Cuomo Annual Budget Message, which in fact described two potential paths for this year’s financial plan — one he says would result in stability and regrowth if the federal government fills the $15 billion budget gap he’s projecting, and the other he says would result in tax increases and significant, longstanding debt if Washington provides only $6 billion. A tax increase on those making more than $5 million annually year (which Cuomo has resisted, but now has offered his own version if necessary.) Other ‘revenue actions’ proposed included a new state and local sales tax on the vacation home rental industry. IBANYS is also reviewing the presentation and will keep you fully informed.

Save the Date - February 18 - 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. EST
The New York State Department of Financial Services is holding a webinar as part of its work to support the community and regional banking institutions in managing and mitigating the financial risks from climate change. The webinar will cover the fundamentals of how climate change impacts the financial system, provide examples of how it could impact the community and regional banking institutions in New York, climate-related business opportunities, and an update on federal and state climate-related initiatives.
Washington Update

ICBA has outlined 2021 agenda in a congressional letter. The 2021 community bank policy agenda was explained in an open letter to Congress. The letter advocates a pragmatic agenda of regulatory relief and a more competitive landscape to promote a dynamic economy. "The new Congress will be closely divided, but it need not be gridlocked," ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey wrote. "ICBA’s track record of working with both parties and crafting bipartisan solutions is well suited to this occasion." READ ICBA RELEASE

A group of 10 Senate Republicans discussed their plan for a new economic stimulus package with President Biden. Their $618 billion plan is about one-third of what the administration is seeking, and the White House noted "there were areas of agreement" but stressed the president wants to move forward quickly with a large aid package and "noted many areas which the Republican senators' proposal does not address. Senate Democrats approved a first step toward approving Biden’s plan with or without Republican votes, a procedural vote beginning a budget process toward passage by March. The Biden "American Rescue Plan" would provide stimulus measures with the goal of sustaining families and firms until vaccines are widely distributed. It includes:
 
  • Direct payments of $1,400 to most Americans, bringing the total relief to $2,000, including December’s $600 payments
  • Increasing the federal, per-week unemployment benefit to $400 and extending it through the end of September
  • Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour
  • Extending the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums until the end of September
  • $350 billion in state and local government aid
  • $170 billion for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education
  • $50 billion toward Covid-19 testing
  • $20 billion toward a national vaccine program in partnership with states, localities and tribes
  • Making the Child Tax Credit fully refundable for the year and increasing the credit to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for a child under age 6)
  • Members of Congress from New York and New Jersey are trying to repeal the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction as part of a pandemic-relief bill. However, the Biden administration has been noncommittal, and the move looks likely to wait until later this year.


The SBA has issued a number of updates on PPP:

  • The SBA updated its frequently asked questions on the Paycheck Protection Program with guidance on the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and BSA/AML compliance. The updates note that FinCEN's April 2020 FAQs on the PPP apply to second-draw loans. Further, lenders can use borrowers' first-draw PPP loan information for a second-draw loan application for purposes of BSA/AML compliance, if the borrower is an existing customer. The updated FAQs also clarify how PPP employee limits apply to public broadcasting stations affiliated with a college or university.

  • An SBA regional office released potential solutions for resolving error messages when submitting Paycheck Protection Program loans to the agency.The instructions offer possible answers to error messages signaling duplicate or dormant businesses, sanctions list matches, deceased applicants, and more. ICBA has not yet been able to verify these instructions with the SBA Washington office. Additional PPP information and resources are available on the SBA and Treasury sites, ICBA's PPP and EIP News page, the Independent Bankers Association of Texas's matrix of PPP updates in the stimulus law, and ICBA's summaryof the stimulus package's community banking provisions.


  • The OCC released the 2021 list of bank type determinations under its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule, including how the agency identifies small banks, intermediate banks, and more. The OCC release also includes its list of distressed and underserved areas as well as the banking industry median hourly compensation value.

  • ICBA called on federal regulators to expand their efforts to streamline community bank call reporting to recognize the impact of Paycheck Protection Program lending. In a comment letter, ICBA thanked regulators for proposing to extend the current call report matrix for another three years, including the FFIEC 051 call report's streamlined reporting option for certain community banks. However, ICBA urged the agencies to increase the 051 call report threshold from $5 billion to $10 billion in assets. The agencies are proposing to expand eligibility for the 051 call report by allowing community banks to base their total assets on the lesser of their assets as of June 30, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2019. ICBA said raising the threshold to $10 billion would further provide reporting relief without jeopardizing the domestic banking system.

  • The House Financial Services Committee released its hearing schedule for February, including separate hearings on additional COVID-19 stimulus and supporting small and minority-owned businesses during the pandemic. Other hearings this month will address short selling, terrorist financing, climate change, monetary policy, and lending discrimination.

  • The Senate Small Business Committee today held a hearing on the nomination of California Office of the Small Business Advocate Director Isabel Guzman for SBA administrator. In prepared remarks, she pledged to ensure the Paycheck Protection Program and other initiatives reach minority-owned businesses and those in underserved communities. 

  • The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the nominations of Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) for secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Cecilia Rouse to chair the Council of Economic Advisers.

The Biden administration has nominated (or soon will nominate) a number of key officials related to banking and financial services. They include:: 
  • Janet Yellen (Treasury Secretary); 
  • Cecelia Rouse (Chair, Council of Economic Advisers); 
  • Isabel Guzman (Small Business Administrator); 
  • Gina Raimondo (Secretary of Commerce); 
  • Brian Dees (Director, National Economic Council); 
  • Gary Gensler (Chairman SEC); 
  • Rohit Chopra (Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau); 
  • Michael Barr (expected to be nominated as Comptroller of the Currency);
  • Neera Tanden (OMB Director)  

House Banking Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-California) named the following New York Democrats to the Committee: 
  • Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens);
  • Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn);
  • Gregory Meeks (D-Queens/Nassau County);
  • Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx);
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens)
  • Reps. Maloney and Meeks will serve on the Subcommittees on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship & Capital Markets;
  • Maloney is also on Housing, Community Development & Insurance, as are Reps. Velazquez and Torres.
  • Meeks, Torres and Rep. Velazquez are on Consumer Protection & Financial Institutions.
  • Torres and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez are on National Security, International Development & Monetary Policy.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Long Island) is one of 11 Republicans named to the House Committee on Small Business by Ranking Member Luetkemeyer (R-MO).

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Senate Democratic committee memberships for the 117th Congress. Key chairmen include Sens. Sherrod Brown (Banking), Debbie Stabenow (Agriculture), Patrick Leahy (Appropriations), Ron Wyden (Finance), and Ben Cardin (Small Business). New Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will join the Senate Banking Committee.

There are at least new members of the New York Congressional Delegation:
  • Andrew Garbarino (R-2nd CD)
  • Nicole Malliotakis (R-11th CD)
  • Ritchie Torres (D-15th CD)
  • Mondaire Jones (D-16th CD)
  • Jamal Bowman (D-17th CD)

In addition, the race between incumbent Democrat Anthony Brindisi and former GOP Congresswoman Claudia Tenney is still undecided and in the courts for review. Tenney has declared victory, but the election is not yet certified.

This week the House Committee on Small Business will convene on Thursday, February 4th for an organizational meeting at 9:30 AM and a hearing entitled the “State of the Small Business Economy in the Era of COVID-19” at 10:00 AM.
 
“As we enter the 117th Congress, I am excited and honored to serve as the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Small Business. Small businesses are the backbone of our country and the livelihood of our nation’s hardworking men and women. As Ranking Member, I will defend Main Street America from government regulations, red tape, and extensive overreach while ensuring responsible government assistance for the Paycheck Protection Program and additional lending programs. I look forward to working alongside my friend and colleague Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez in my role to fight for all small businesses, entrepreneurs, and innovators across the United States.” - House Committee on Small Business Ranking Member Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
 
Please see the below updates on Small Business Committee Republican Members, the Paycheck Protection Program, and Ranking Member Luetkemeyer’s media hits.
 
If you or your organization have any questions about House Small Business Committee activities, please feel free to reach out! Additionally, please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from this email list.
 
Have a great week,
 
Hailey Hart Borden
Director of Coalitions and Member Services | Professional Staff
House Committee on Small Business Republicans
Haliey.Borden@mail.house.gov | C: 202-380-5904