SDBA eNews

May 21, 2020

SDBA to Hold Annual Business Meeting Virtually, Followed by a Virtual FDIC Town Hall 

The SDBA's Annual Business Meeting, traditionally held during the Annual Convention, will take place as a virtual meeting via Zoom on Tuesday, June 9, at 9-10 a.m. CDT. The meeting is being held virtually due to the cancellation of the SDBA/NDBA Annual Convention, which was scheduled for June 8-9. 

The agenda of the Annual Business Meeting includes election of SDBA officers, comments from the outgoing and incoming SDBA chairs, an association update from SDBA President Curt Everson and a South Dakota Bankers Foundation update from Halley Lee. The meeting is open to all SDBA members. Be watching the SDBA eNews and website for the Zoom meeting registration link as the meeting date gets closer. 

Also on June 9, South Dakota bankers are invited to join North Dakota bankers for a Virtual Town Hall with FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams at 10:30-11:30 a.m. CDT. There will be a separate registration link for the town hall, and participants will have the chance to submit a question when they register. Be watching the SDBA eNews and website for the registration link as the meeting date gets closer. 


Registration Open for SDBA's Virtual Ag Credit Conference

Registration for the SDBA's 2020 Virtual Agricultural Credit Conference is now open. The virtual conference is a series of four webinars on June 24 and July 1, 8 and 15 from 10-11 a.m. CDT. The lineup is:

  • Dr. Chris Kuehl: The COVID Economy: Where From Here?
  • Doug Johnson: Convergence of the Big Three in Agriculture: Ag Economy, Ag Technology and Ag Experience
  • Troy Bockelmann and Ryan Moe: Commodities Outlook and How It Impacts the Ag Economy
  • Ed Elfmann and Sen. Mike Rounds: Fireside Chat: Washington Update.

The virtual sessions will be moderated by host Damian Mason, who you may remember from the 2019 Ag Credit Conference. Mason is a businessman, agriculturist, speaker, podcaster, writer and consultant.  

The registration fee for the series of four webinars is $400 per person for members of a state banking association or $500 per person for non-members. The webinars will be recorded and available for pre-registered attendees to download and watch at their convenience. Learn more and register


USDA Announces Details of Direct Assistance to Farmers and Ranchers

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Tuesday announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which will provide up to $16 billion in direct payments to deliver relief to America’s farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to this direct support to farmers and ranchers, USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box program is partnering with regional and local distributors, whose workforces have been significantly impacted by the closure of many restaurants, hotels and other food service entities, to purchase $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat and deliver boxes to Americans in need.

“America’s farming community is facing an unprecedented situation as our nation tackles the coronavirus. President Trump has authorized USDA to ensure our patriotic farmers, ranchers and producers are supported, and we are moving quickly to open applications to get payments out the door and into the pockets of farmers,” said Secretary Perdue. “These payments will help keep farmers afloat while market demand returns as our nation reopens and recovers. America’s farmers are resilient and will get through this challenge just like they always do with faith, hard work and determination.”

Beginning May 26, USDA, through the Farm Service Agency, will be accepting applications from agricultural producers who have suffered losses. Read the full announcement. Additional information and application forms can be found at farmers.gov/cfap


Temporary Extensions Granted for South Dakota Driver License Expiration Dates

The South Dakota Department of Public Safety (DPS) is reminding people and businesses that it has temporarily granted extension for residents' driver license expiration dates. 

“Since the COVID-19 emergency, the state’s Driver Licensing Program has received several hundred calls each day from citizens worried about renewing their driver license or ID card,” said DPS Cabinet Secretary Craig Price.  “I have authorized the Driver’s Licensing Program to extend these expiration dates for the length of the Governor’s state of emergency for COVID-19, beginning March 13, through the duration of the emergency declaration plus an additional 90 days.”

“This legislation is great news because citizens’ licenses will be automatically extended,” said state Driver Licensing Director Jane Schrank. “We have appreciated the public’s patience during this time.”

Senate Bill 190, which was passed during the 2020 Legislature, gives Secretary Price the authority to order the extension of the expiration date for an operator’s license, motorcycle operator’s license, restricted minor’s permit, motorcycle restricted minor’s permit and non-driver identification card. The legislation also allows the DPS Secretary to order the extension of the expiration date for a commercial driver’s license or commercial learner’s permit.

The current expiration extension runs until Aug. 29, 2020. Read more


OCC Unilaterally Finalizes Community Reinvestment Act Changes

The OCC yesterday issued its long-awaited final rule making significant changes to the regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act—the first overhaul of the CRA framework in more than three decades. The 370-page final rule makes critical changes in four key areas, including:

  • Qualifying activities. The final rule clarifies and expands the qualifying activities that can receive CRA consideration to include certain activities in areas of need that are not low-to-moderate-income communities and certain activities that benefit an entire community. A non-exhaustive list of qualified activities will be published on the OCC’s website in a searchable format and updated on an annual basis.
  • Determining bank assessment areas. The final rule preserves facility-based assessment areas, but also requires institutions to delineate deposit-based assessment areas where they have significant concentrations of retail domestic deposits.
  • Evaluating CRA performance. The final rule seeks to establish a more objective, consistent and transparent means of evaluating CRA performance that will assess a bank’s retail lending and community development activities by analyzing the distribution of retail lending activities relative to LMI populations and census tracts in a bank’s assessment area as well as the impact of all CRA activity measured in dollars.
  • CRA reporting. The final rule will impose significant data collection, recordkeeping and reporting requirements that are intended to standardize the reporting process, increase transparency and reduce the lag time in preparing CRA exam reports.

The new rule—which will apply to OCC-regulated national banks and savings associations—will be effective on Oct. 1, 2020. The agency is providing a phase-in period for the new requirements, and institutions with less than $600 million in assets choosing to opt in to the new regime will have until Jan. 1, 2024, to comply. Community banks with assets of up to $2.5 billion will also have the option to opt out of the new performance standards. 


As Bankers Await Release of Form 1502, SBA Extends Submission Deadline

In updates to its Paycheck Protection Program FAQs on Tuesday, the Small Business Administration announced that it will extend the deadline for lenders to submit the still-yet-to-be-released Form 1502, which must be completed in order for lenders to receive their processing fee. The deadline will be extended to May 29, 2020, or 10 calendar days after disbursement or cancellation of the PPP loan, whichever is later.‌

This update came shortly after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin signaled in Tuesday's virtual Senate Banking Committee hearing that the deadline would be moved. The previous deadline for submitting the form was May 22.

In other news, the SBA released updated PPP lending figures last night. As of yesterday at 4 p.m. CDT, SBA had approved 4.39 million PPP loans amounting to $512.2 billion across both PPP rounds, leaving more than $156 billion in congressionally-appropriated funds available. The total loan volume was slightly lower than previous sums reported, as certain borrowers with access to other forms of liquidity returned funds. Read moreRead the FAQs.


New Video Highlights Banking Industry Response to COVID-19

A new video released by the ABA yesterday highlights the many ways America’s banks have stepped up to support customers and communities facing unprecedented challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The video pays tribute to the dedicated bank employees across the country who are serving as “economic first responders” in their local communities and facilitating critical government relief efforts like the Paycheck Protection Program. It also features bank customers thanking bankers for their efforts.

“We’ve got folks working from their kitchen tables, their laundry rooms, wherever they can find a place to work. I couldn’t be more proud of what our folks have been able to accomplish,” said ABA Chair Laurie Stewart in the video. “Thousands of financial institutions willing to take that leap of faith and engage with their communities and help get this money on the street really are making a difference.”

Bankers are encouraged to share the video widely on their social media networks and communications channels. ABA has prepared a social media toolkit featuring turnkey posts that can be quickly shared.


Hacker Hour: Remote Work Security Assessment

Remote work has been a trend in the workforce for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic reignited the growth and adoption of remote workers. Organizations around the globe implemented a variety of innovative solutions to continue to serve customers and allow employees to work from home. Unfortunately, we had to react quickly and skip certain security steps to make sure the business was able to operate.

Join SBS CyberSecurity for the free webinar Hacker Hour: Remote Work Assessment on Wednesday, May 27, at 2-3 p.m. CDT. SBS will discuss the most common steps that were missed and how you can ensure that your business has a handle on the security of remote work. SBS will cover risk assessment, policy/programs, remote access testing and more. Learn more and register


 Compliance Alliance

Question of the Week

Question: Given the current rate environment, the bank is looking at slightly decreasing our money market account rates. In our original disclosures for these accounts, we disclosed the rate as variable, subject to change at our discretion at any time. For this change, is there an advance notice requirement or would it be acceptable to just include a notice about the rate change on the next periodic statement?

Answer: A 30-day advance notice is not explicitly required by TISA in this situation, as set out here: 

(2) No notice required. No notice under this section is required for:
(i) Variable-rate changes. Changes in the interest rate and corresponding changes in the annual percentage yield in variable-rate accounts.
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/rulemaking/regulations/1030/5/#a-2

Like you imply, though, it's still a good practice to give some kind of advance notice of the change, and including a statement message is a common way to accomplish this. 

Not a member? Learn more about membership with Compliance Alliance by attending one of our live demos:

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Compliance Alliance offers a comprehensive suite of compliance management solutions. To learn how to put them to work for your bank, call 888.353.3933 or email and ask for our Membership Team.


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Contact Alisa Bousa, SDBA, at 800.726.7322 or via email.