July 02, 2014
Masthead 2

 
Contents:
Guidance for Home Equity Lines of Credit Nearing Their End-of-Draw Periods
New Capital Rules For Community Banks
List of CRA Community Development Areas
Home Sales Up


Crowe-Horwath



A Bank's Private Cloud




6 Bridges




Harland Clarke


Travelers


 
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Real Community Bank

Guidance for Home Equity Lines of Credit Nearing Their End-of-Draw Periods  

Four federal financial institutions regulatory agencies Regulator Collage and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) today issued guidance to financial institutions regarding home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) nearing their "end-of-draw" periods, which occurs when the principal amount of the HELOC must begin to be repaid.  The guidance encourages financial institutions to effectively communicate with borrowers about the pending reset and provides broad principles for managing risk as HELOCs reach their end-of-draw periods. 

 
The guidance describes how financial institutions can effectively manage their potential exposures under these circumstances.  The guidance promotes an understanding of potential exposures and describes consistent, effective responses to HELOC borrowers unable to meet their contractual obligations.  The appropriate accounting and reporting procedures for HELOCs nearing their end-of-draw periods are also discussed.

 

View the Guidance here. 

New Capital Rules For Community Banks
On July 2, 2013, the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System approved final regulatory capital rules,
which reflect the largest change to capital rules since the late 1980s. Community banking organizations become subject to the revised capital framework on January 1, 2015.

The recent financial crisis brought to light the need for larger amounts of loss-absorbing capital during times of stress. Indeed, a major goal of the revision is to improve the level and quality of capital, and to better reflect banking organizations' risk profiles. This FedLinks document will not address all elements of the new capital rule, but it will highlight some key changes and areas of supervisory focus.

View this informative FedLinks document here
List of CRA Community Development Areas
The federal banking agencies released the 2014 list of distressed or under served non-metropolitan middle-income geographies where revitalization or stabilization activities will receive Community Reinvestment Act consideration as "community development."

The designations continue to reflect local economic conditions, including unemployment, poverty and population changes. As with past releases, the agencies incorporate a one-year lag period for geographies that are no longer designated as distressed or underserved in the current release.

View the List here.  
Home Sales Up
Pending home sales rose sharply in May on lower house-fence.jpg mortgage rates and increased inventory, according to the National Association of Realtors. NAR's Pending Home Sales Index increased 6.1 percent but was down 5.2 percent from a year ago. All four regions of the country saw increases, with the Northeast and West experiencing the largest gains.

For May, the Arkansas Realtors Association reports that home sales were up 5.4 percent compared to May of 2013, and 2014 has seen the most home sales through the first five months since 2009. The total homes sold through the first five months of 2014 was 10,663.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Thursday, July 31, 2014

SBA LENDER TRAINING DATES

 

The Arkansas District Office of the Small Business Administration will present "SBA Lending: The Way of the Future" lender training at locations around the state in the coming months. Dates and locations are listed below. For more information, contact Bach at johnna.bach@sba.gov or 501.324.7379, ext. 297.

  • Arkadelphia - July 30, HSU Community Education Center
  • Batesville - July 15, Batesville Chamber of Commerce
  • Little Rock - July 29, UALR Reynolds Business Center
  • Monticello - Aug. 20, UAM Library
  • Northwest Arkansas - Sept. 30, Location TBA
  • Russellville - Aug. 19, ATU Rothwell Hall