Author: Brian Waters

Census Bureau: American FactFinder Is Retiring March 31

The U.S. Census Bureau is retiring American FactFinder (AFF) on March 31, 2020. AFF has been the primary data dissemination tool, provided by the Census Bureau, for almost 20 years. Beginning in June of 2019, the Census Bureau stopped releasing new data in AFF and transitioned to data.census.gov. Data.census.gov represents a new chapter in the Census Bureau’s dissemination…

Census Bureau: 2020 Census Operations Updates, Website Launched, Motivation Ads Begin

The 2020 Census is well underway and is ready for America to respond as the first invitations are arriving in the mail at an estimated 140 million households between last Thursday, March 12 and this Friday, March 20. The public is encouraged to respond to the 2020 Census online, over the phone, or through the…

FFIEC: Updated Guidance on Pandemic Planning Issued

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today updated guidance identifying actions that financial institutions should take to minimize the potential adverse effects of a pandemic. Pandemic preparedness is an important part of a financial institution’s business continuity planning. The guidance provides the Council’s prudent expectations that regulated institutions should periodically review related risk management…

FEMA: President Trump Amends Disaster Declaration for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

FEMA announced that President Donald J. Trump made additional disaster assistance available to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands by authorizing an increase in federal funding for certain eligible costs as a result of Super Typhoon Yutu. The President’s action authorizes federal cost share for all categories of Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation and the…

FHFA: Indices Show Little Movement in Mortgage Interest Rates in December 2018

Nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages were nearly flat from November to December, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts. The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 4.83 percent for loans closed in late December, down 3 basis points from 4.86 percent…

FHFA: House Price Index Up 0.4 Percent in November 2018

U.S. house prices rose in November, up 0.4 percent from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) seasonally adjusted monthly House Price Index (HPI).  The previously reported 0.3 percent increase in October was revised to reflect a 0.4 percent increase. The FHFA monthly HPI is calculated using home sales price information…

Federal Reserve: Beginning November 28th, FRB Intends to Begin Publishing Semiannual Report on Assessment of U.S. Financial Stability

The Federal Reserve Board on November 28 intends to begin publishing a semiannual report presenting the Board’s view of the outlook for U.S. financial stability. The Financial Stability Report will include a summary of the Board’s framework for assessing the resilience of the U.S. financial system and a discussion of key indicators related to the…

CDFI Fund: CDFI Certification Application Now Available in AMIS

In June, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced that it would not accept new applications for certification as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) for a 90-day period, beginning August 1, 2018. The CDFI Fund needed to temporarily halt the application submission process to implement critical systems…