The coronavirus has presented the first threat to community banks since the 2008 financial crisis. For the first time, stress testing is a real exercise. What community banks across the country are discovering with dread right...
News Alert: Two out of Three Banks Say No to the Community Bank Leverage Ratio
Thanks, but no thanks: That’s the resounding message from community banks about the new community bank leverage ratio framework. Two out of every three banks chose not to opt into the new framework, according to an exclusive...
When the Hypothetical is Now: The Importance of Pandemic Stress Testing
After the 2008 Great Recession and prior to the coronavirus pandemic, regulators turned to stress testing to establish bank capital adequacy levels. The Federal Reserve established a program called the Comprehensive Capital...
Why Banks Need to Get Ahead of the COVID-19 Economy
The one thing we know about the future economic impact of COVID-19 is that we do not know what it will be. The internal optimist in all of us hopes that the lockdowns start to unwind, the economy quickly returns to business as...
Beyond Loan Modifications and PPP: What Lenders Should be Doing with Vulnerable Borrowers
During our recent COVID-19 stress testing webinar, I discussed how one of the primary goals of stress testing is to rank your loans based on their capital at risk as measured by the stress test. Community banks can then use these...
The Hidden “Surcharge” Embedded in the CBLR
The Federal Reserve approved a simplification of the capital rules for the large banks on March 4, which coincided with the beginnings of the collapse in financial markets due to COVID-19. So, what does this have to do with...
Should Community Banks Consider the CBLR at 8 Percent?
Under the CARES Act signed into law by President Trump last month, the Community Bank Leverage Ratio CBLR) threshold temporarily drops from 9 percent to 8 percent until the earlier of December 31, 2020 or the date on which the...
Community Banks Need Stress Testing Now More than Ever: Invictus Webinar
Stress testing is an essential tool for community banks that want to navigate the COVID-19 economy safely and position their banks for opportunities down the road, Invictus CEO Adam Mustafa said on an April 15 webinar attended by...
ZIRP, NIRP and QE(n) – Here we go again*
The unprecedented economic implications of the coronavirus has led the Federal Reserve to embark on a path that even just a few short years ago would have been completely unimaginable. The moves include a drastic cut in interest...