IBAT News

Silver Alerts

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Beaumont Police Department Searching for Robert Harvey Bowman & Cymenthia Boyd

SILVER ALERT ACTIVATION

AFFECTED TEXAS AREAS:
Orange County, Newton County, Liberty County, Jefferson County, Jasper County, Hardin County, Chambers County,

THIS IS A MISSING SENIOR ALERT ISSUED BY THE TEXAS SILVER ALERT NETWORK

The Beaumont Police Department is searching for Robert Harvey Bowman, Black, Male, 74 years old, DOB 03-02-1938, height 6'0", weight 150lbs, Bald Hair, Brown Eyes, wearing Black hat, black shirt with red writing and black pants. Has a gray thin beard. with condition(s): Dementia.

The senior citizen was last seen 05/22/2013 19:52:00 at 2950 8th St. Beaumont, TX. Subject is on foot.

Law enforcement officials believe this senior citizen's disappearance poses a credible threat to HIS own health and safety.

If you have any information regarding this missing senior citizen, contact the Beaumont Police Department at 406-893-1646

News Media Point of Contact is Beaumont Police Department at 406-893-1646

 

AFFECTED TEXAS AREAS:
Region 6, Region 2, Region 1,

THIS IS A MISSING SENIOR ALERT ISSUED BY THE TEXAS SILVER ALERT NETWORK

The Beaumont Police Department is searching for Cymenthia Boyd, White, Female, 76 years old, DOB 09/14/36, 5'0", 140 lbs, Gray Hair, Blue Eyes, diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

The senior citizen was last seen 05/23/2013 11:30:00 at 6155 Eastex Freeway, Beaumont, TX driving a white, 2007 Mercury Milan with TX license plates NLP968.

Law enforcement officials believe this senior citizen's disappearance poses a credible threat to HER own health and safety.

If you have any information regarding this missing senior citizen, contact the Beaumont Police Department at (409) 832-1234

News Media Point of Contact is Beaumont Police Department at (409) 832-1234

H.B. 3068 Update

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Debit Surcharge Prohibition Clears Senate Hurdle

H.B. 3068, the IBAT-initiated bill prohibiting retailers from assessing a surcharge on debit card transactions at the point of sale, was passed by the Texas Senate on Friday by a vote of 25-5.  Throughout the legislative process, the bill faced opposition and was targeted by retail groups as well as a conservative organization.  Engagement and numerous contacts with elected officials by IBAT members, however, helped drive support for the bill among lawmakers.

"As the Durbin Amendment to Dodd-Frank Act removed long-standing prohibitions on steering of transactions, IBAT felt that it was essential to protect consumer choice at the point of sale and ensure that community bank debit cards are not discriminated against due to arrangements between retailers and the big banks," said IBAT Executive Vice President Steve Scurlock.  "We're pleased that Texas will be among the first states to offer such protection."

The bill will head to the governor's desk following a brief technical stop back in the Texas House of Representatives later this week.

H.B. 3068 is just one of the many issues IBAT has addressed in the 83rd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature.  As is customary, IBAT will provide a thorough review of the Texas Legislative Session via a webinar conducted by Karen Neeley and Steve Scurlock on June 25, from 3:00 PM until 4:30 PM.  There is no charge, and the program will be recorded for future reference. Additionally, our post-session White Paper should be ready for distribution electronically prior to the program date.  

We hope you plan to join us for an informative discussion on issues impacting the community banking industry. Click here to register for the webinar.

Financial Literacy Summit

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Join Us July 25-26 for the 2013 Financial Literacy Summit in Dallas

The IBAT Education Foundation and the Texas Bankers Foundation invite you to join us at our annual statewide conference, The Financial Literacy Summit, on Thursday, July 25 from 8:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m., and on Friday, July 26 from 8:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at the Dallas Federal Reserve.

The summit highlights promising practices, critical challenges and opportunities in promoting financial capability to all Texans - children, young adults and adults.  Our goal is to help Texas bankers be aware of the opportunities (and risks) in providing financial education as an outreach to help our communities, regions and ultimately our State continue to grow.

Conference attendees are mostly bankers who share a passion for financial education small business officers, marketing officers, community reinvestment officers, presidents as well as regulators, innovators, policy influencers and teachers.

We welcome your participation and engagement.

Mortgage Rule Clarification Part 4

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Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Higher Priced Mortgage Loan Rules and Notices

In order to provide additional clarification on the recently issued CFPB mortgage reforms, IBAT Regulatory Compliance Manager Kelly Goulart is releasing a series of white papers addressing each change contained in the seven major mortgage lending initiatives, six of which have been finalized by the CFPB (more or less).  

The fourth part of the series, focused on the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Higher Priced Mortgage Loan (HPML) rules and notices, is now available on the IBAT website.

Previous documents in the series can be found here:
Ability to Repay (ATR) and Qualified Mortgage Rules
Escrow requirements for HPMLs
Regulation Z - Prohibited Acts or Practices

IBAT Compliance Forum

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Instructions for Creating an Account

On May 3, 2013 IBAT launched the latest iteration of its Compliance Forum.  The Forum is intended to be a place for IBAT members to share their most pertinent compliance questions and answers. To get started, all members will need to create an account, even if you have previously used the IBAT compliance forum.  Here’s how you get started:

  1. Visit www.ibat.org/user/register.
  2. Choose a user name and then enter your email address, name, bank name and city and click the “create new account” at the bottom of the page.
  3. You’ll receive an email containing a link for one-time login.  Click the link and confirm that you’re ready to update your password on the website. 
  4. You’ll now need to create a unique password.  The site lets you know how secure your password is, but there are no requirements for special characters, uppercase letters, etc. 
  5. Once you create a password, you can set up the other options for your online profile (photo, signature for forum posts.
  6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “save.” 
  7. You’ll be immediately authorized to view all content in the IBAT Compliance Forum and, within 24 hours, you’ll be approved to begin posting (this usually takes much less than 24 hours).

If, at any point in the process, you need assistance please email Alina Greavu or Christopher Williston, or give us a call at 1-800-749-4228.

Time to End TBTF!

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IBAT Board Stakes Position on Too Big To Fail

Late last week, the IBAT Board of Directors unanimously voted to support S.798, the Brown-Vitter bill designed to end too big to fail. The legislation, one of a number of bills that have been introduced in the 113th Congress to address the widespread sentiment that too big to fail is still alive and well and was not eliminated in the passage of Dodd-Frank, is gaining considerable momentum. Prominent industry leaders, including Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher and FDIC Board Vice Chairman Tom Hoenig, have been leading the chorus who believe that another financial crisis would put American taxpayer dollars at risk.

In an email to Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, IBAT president and CEO Chris Williston touted the positive elements of the bill.  "Given the fact that [S.798] eliminates future bailouts of large systemically important financial institutions by the American taxpayer, eliminates potential Basel III application for community banks and provides much needed regulatory relief for the industry, it is obvious to us that S.798 is the most logical vehicle to address the future competitiveness of all industry stakeholders and restore consumer confidence in our financial system," Williston said.

The legislation requires that institutions over $50 billion in assets maintain capital levels of 8%, with the requirement increasing to 15% for institutions over $500 billion.  Community banks under $50 billion would not be subject to Basel III capital standards adopted by all federal regulatory agencies.  IBAT acknowledged that certain other components of the Basel III standards, as proposed for community banks in the legislation, needed to be eliminated.  "The IBAT Board instructed staff to work to eliminate any aspects of the Basel III proposal, specifically the inclusion of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (AOCI) in any final capital calculation and its applicability to community banks," Williston said.

It is likely that the banking industry will be divided over the legislation.  The big banks and their trade organizations are staunchly opposed and have unleashed a plethora of lobbyists to work on their behalf to defeat the legislation. Community bank groups widely favor the proposal.  Williston concluded, "This legislation acknowledges what IBAT has long advocated and has been working to achieve... recognition that one-size-fits-all regulation makes no sense when you contrast the business models of community banks and the financial conglomerates."

Week in Review May 17

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Baker Market Update: May 17, 2013

In order to avoid the use of any terminology that could trigger unwanted scrutiny from the nation's tax enforcement authorities, [Friday's] Week-in-Review will be regrettably bland. Also regrettably bland was Monday's announcement of a mere .1% rise in April Retail Sales. Blander still was the .1% decline that measure experienced if one strips out auto sales. Despite that, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Optimism Index improved from 89.5 to 92.1. In a similar measure of wishful thinking, the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment rose unexpectedly to 83.7 from last month's 76.4 against a market expectation of only 77.9... Read more in the Baker Market Update.

West Relief Update

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IBAT Travels to West on May 31

Thanks to your outpouring of support, IBAT and TBA will travel to West on Friday, May 31, to present a check totaling more than $140,000 to help our local community bankers following the aftermath of the April fertilizer plant explosion.  Several members of our IBAT family suffered devastating losses and this money will help them with expenses.  After the needs of our IBAT family members have been met, PointWest Bank and The State National Bank will direct the remaining funds to help the community in their rebuilding efforts.  Be assured that 100% of the funds you contributed will go to this effort.  Thank you for your generosity to assist your fellow community bankers and the community of West.

Bank Director Assembly

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SWGSB 137th Assembly for Bank Directors

Join your peers for SWGSB's 137th Assembly for Bank Directors, an important conference on board duties and responsibilities. With the community banking industry facing unprecedented changes and challenges, we've invited top banking insiders to discuss in depth Superior Community Banking: Reaching for Success. On the agenda are critical issues bank boards nationwide are addressing, such as:

  • economic outlook;
  • compliance risks;
  • regulatory issues;
  • strategic issues;
  • brand communication; and
  • key survival strategies.

Workshops will give you the opportunity to "drill down" further to gain a complete understanding of regulator expectations and stress testing. For more details about the program, and to register, please click here.

IBAT's Newest Endorsement

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Exclusive IBAT Member Benefits from DELL

IBAT's newest endorsement brings DELL to the doorstep of IBAT members, their employees and customers with discounted pricing and significant benefits.  Bank and associate members with up to 100 employees can now access:

  • Exclusive Member Discounts (2-35%) on Workstations, Servers, Printers, Desktops, Laptops, Ultrabooks, Tablets, Electronics and Accessories, Services and Software;
  • DELL dedicated Territory Account Executive to provide support and bridge IBAT Members with appropriate DELL teams;
  • IBAT Members’ call queue with inside sales reps to provide sales support to Territory Account Manager; and
  • Access to technical experts from all brands and product lines within DELL (SecureWorks, Boomi, KACE, Quest, Gale Technologies, Wyse, Perot Systems, etc...).

To begin accessing discounted products and services from Dell, call or email Denney James (denney_james@DELL.com), DELL's IBAT Territory Manager at 512-728-8763.  Denney is the key to register your bank with DELL's IBAT Customer Link Number: GS126658178.

FHFA Limits on Mortgage Loans

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FHFA Limits Fannie and Freddie Loan Purchases to QMs

Last week, the FHFA directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to limit their future mortgage acquisitions to loans that meet the requirements for a qualified mortgage, including those that meet the special or temporary qualified mortgage definition, and loans that are exempt from the "ability to repay" requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act. Beginning January 10, 2014, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will no longer purchase a loan that is subject to the "ability to repay" rule, if the loan:

  • is not fully amortizing,
  • has a term of longer than 30 years, or
  • includes points and fees in excess of three percent of the total loan amount, or such other limits for low balance loans as set forth in the rule.

According to the press release, this means Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not purchase interest-only loans, loans with 40-year terms, or those with points and fees exceeding the thresholds established by the rule.

Support HB 3068

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Support HB 3068 by Calling Your TX Senate Member NOW

The debit card surcharge prohibition bill, HB 3068 (Jose Menendez), is scheduled for Senate floor action as early as tomorrow. Business and Commerce Committee Chairman John Carona is the Senate Sponsor.

Please take a moment to call and/or email your member of the Texas Senate - right now - and let them know that this is an extremely important issue for your bank, that you strongly support this bill and you urge their support.

The various retailer/merchant interests are opposed, and will be attempting to defeat this bill. Additionally, one of the conservative groups opposed this bill in the House (interference with the free market), and may do so again as it goes to the Senate. Your grassroots communications with the House clearly made the difference.  We need your involvement in this process to succeed!  

This consumer-friendly bill will protect consumer choice at the point of sale and ensure that community bank debit cards are not discriminated against due to arrangements between retailers and the big banks. Full talking points for the bill are available to download here.  When calling your Senator's office, please offer to forward this link or the downloaded document if they’d like further information.

Again, you may look up and access your  Senator's phone number here.

Legislative Update Webinar

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Register for IBAT's State Legislative Update Webinar

As is customary, IBAT will provide a thorough review of the Texas Legislative Session via a webinar conducted by Karen Neeley and Steve Scurlock on June 25, from 3:00 PM until 4:30 PM.  

There is no charge, and the program will be recorded for future reference. Additionally, our post-session white paper should be ready for distribution electronically prior to the program date.  

We hope you plan to join us for an informative discussion on issues impacting the community banking industry. Click here to register for the webinar.

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