FEMA: President Trump Approves Major Disaster Declaration for South Dakota
FEMA announced that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the state of South Dakota to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, tornadoes and flooding beginning on Sept. 9 — Sept. 26, 2019. The President’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Brookings, Charles…
HUD and Census Bureau: Residential Construction Activity Report for October 2019
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for October 2019. Building Permits Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,461,000. This is 5.0 percent (±1.7 percent) above the revised…
FHFA: Enterprise Capital Rule Will Be Re-Proposed in 2020
Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced plans to re-propose the entire regulation on capital requirements (Capital Rule) for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) sometime in 2020. “The 2018 Capital Rule was proposed before FHFA began the process of retaining capital at the Enterprises as a first step toward ending the conservatorships….
FHFA: 2019 Performance and Accountability Report Released
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its Performance and Accountability Report, which details FHFA’s activities as regulator of the Federal Home Loan Bank System and as regulator and conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during fiscal year 2019. For the eleventh consecutive year, FHFA received an unmodified audit opinion on its FY…
FDIC: Merger Between BB&T and SunTrust Approved
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors unanimously approved the Bank Merger Act (BMA) application submitted by Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T), Winston-Salem, NC, to merge with SunTrust Bank, Atlanta, GA. The resulting bank will operate under BB&T’s charter and will be called Truist Bank. Truist Bank will be headquartered in Charlotte,…
FDIC: Establishment of New Advisory Committee of State Regulators Approved
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Board of Directors today approved establishing a new advisory committee for state regulators and the FDIC to discuss a variety of current and emerging issues that have potential implications on the regulation and supervision of state-chartered financial institutions. “State Regulators are an important link in our regulatory ecosystem and the…
ABA: New Foundation Research Shows U.S. Banks Stepping Up Efforts to Protect Older Americans from Financial Abuse
Banks of all sizes continue to increase focus and investment in elder fraud prevention, according to the 2019 Older Americans Benchmarking Report released today by the ABA Foundation. The biennial report, the most expansive survey of the banking industry’s efforts to protect seniors, captures data on how banks across the country educate older Americans, respond to fraudulent…
SBA: Direct Final Rule Issued that Will Allow Governors to Seek HUBZone Designation for Certain Rural Areas
The U.S. Small Business Administration today issued a direct final rule that will allow governors to petition the SBA’s Administrator to designate HUBZone status to certain covered areas. A covered area is an area in a state that is located outside of an urbanized area, as determined by the Census Bureau, with a population of not more than…
FHFA: Deadline Extended for Input on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac UMBS Pooling Practices
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced that it will extend, from Dec. 19. 2019 to Jan. 21, 2020 the deadline for interested parties to provide input on potential changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security (UMBS) pooling practices. FHFA announced on Nov. 4, 2019 that it was seeking input on the Enterprises’…
SBA: New Initiative Assists Veterans Transitioning to Civilian Life, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners
As National Veterans Small Business Week came to a close, three Atlantic Region federal agencies are carrying on its mission with a new initiative to assist both Veterans transitioning to civilian life as well as their families through entrepreneurship and small business ownership. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and…