By Dan Valente, IBANYS Director of Government Relations

Budget Update

The NYS Budget is in the final stages of the legislative process.  The final bills are printed and the legislature is expected to vote on the budget this Friday.  The budget is expected to pass early for the first time since 1983. IBANYS was instrumental in removing proposed language from the budget that would adversely affect our members.  Issues specifically pertaining to IBANYS members include:

• Language which would prohibit banks from collecting fees on levied bank accounts has been eliminated from the budget.
• Language that would provide for a new statewide criminal forfeiture law, which would allow District Attorneys to obtain forfeiture of property, including vehicles, as part of a criminal case has been eliminated from the budget.

The budget closes a multi-billion dollar deficit with no new taxes, fees or gimmicks, and limits spending growth to two percent or below for the second year in a row, and launches the New York Works Task Force to invest billions of dollars to rebuild the state's roads, bridges, parks, and other infrastructure and create tens of thousands of jobs.  Other key banking initiatives of the budget include providing $9 million for the continuation of mortgage foreclosure counseling services through Homes and Community Renewal, with additional services financed with proceeds of the National Mortgage Servicing Settlement Agreement. In addition, the Department of Financial Services will establish a new Foreclosure Relief Unit to provide counseling and mediation services to help New Yorkers stay in their homes.

Last year, New York State created 10 Regional Councils that developed long term strategic plans for economic growth for their regions. These Councils were part of a process that awarded $785 million for job creation and community development. This year, the budget authorizes a second round of funding for the Regional Councils, including $220 million to implement regional strategic plans - $150 million in new capital funding and $70 million in tax credits from the Excelsior Jobs Program.

State Charter Advisory Board Members Named

The Department of Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky today announced the nine members of the new State Charter Advisory Board which will advise the Superintendent on ways to promote the state chartered banking system.

Two of the members of the advisory board are also members of IBANYS. E. Peter Forrestel II, President and CEO of the Bank of Akron in Erie County, and Joseph G. Perri, President and CEO of Gold Coast Bank on Long Island were both named to the State Charter Advisory Board.

"I am honored by the appointment, but more important, I think this will facilitate greatly enhanced communication between New York State bankers and regulators," said Mr. Perri.

Mr. Forrestel added, "I am pleased that the Department of Financial Services has embarked on the creation of the State Charter Advisory Board, and I feel fortunate to represent the community banking industry at the table at the DFS."  

The board's creation was authorized last year with the enactment of the Financial Services Law used to establish the Department of Financial Services. Under the Financial Services Law, the Advisory Board will be responsible for retaining existing state chartered banks, encouraging federally chartered banks to change to state charters and promoting the state banking system.

To see the release from the DFS on the creation of the Advisory Board, click here.   

Congratulations to Joe and Peter from all of us at IBANYS! 

IBANYS and FinPro, Inc. hosted a Enterprise Risk Management Program in Syracuse on Monday. The staff at FinPro led the group through real-life scenarios about risk, stress-testing, losses, and more.  

Program participant and Tioga State Bank President and CEO Bob Fisher tweeted about the program, saying, "Enjoying the ERM session. Learning a great deal."  

Check out some pictures from the event:  

By Camden Fine, President and CEO of ICBA

By now we've all heard the various storylines from credit union lobbyists attempting to justify a dramatic increase in the commercial lending powers of their government-subsidized clients. Through boom times and now a deep recession, they've continually rewritten their scripts as needed for more than a decade to rationalize the same unpalatable legislation.  

So far, thanks mainly to the vigilance and principled opposition of community bankers, lawmakers have wisely avoided the legislation's blatant move to further featherbed an already costly and unwarranted credit union subsidy. But as predictably relentless as a drooling zombiein a schlocky B-grade horror flick, this legislation never really dies for long. Instead, it has been exhumed again and again by credit union lobbyists hoping to tempt or frighten a few lawmakers facing re-election into making a dark and desperate bargain in support of the legislation.

Never mind that small-business lending has never been more competitive and that small-business credit has never been more widely available. Never mind that expanding those commercial lending powers would benefit only a handful of very large, already bank-like tax-free credit unions. Never mind that the federal government's desperate need for more revenue makes the legislation more irresponsible than ever. For the credit union lobby, there's always a new plot twist to bring this proposal back to life. ... 

...Read the rest here!