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Journal Article
New Community Reinvestment Act regulation : what have been the effects?
Effective January 1, 1996, the federal financial supervisory agencies (agencies) implemented their new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. The new regulations currently apply to small institutions; they will apply to large institutions in 1997. ; In adopting their new regulations, the agencies sought to address complaints voiced by banks and the public about burden, relevancy, and consistency of CRA regulation under the agencies' old supervisory approach. To judge the new regulation's success in addressing these complaints, we surveyed 38 small Tenth District member banks examined ...
Journal Article
The 2001 survey of commercial banks in the Tenth Federal Reserve District : changes and challenges
Periodically, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City surveys District bankers for their views on a variety of matters. In February 2001, we solicited banker opinion on a number of topics pertaining to deposit and loan competition, management and staffing challenges, Internet banking activities, funding options, operational issues, the effects of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and near-term prospects. ; This essay briefly discusses the Tenth Districts geography, economics, and demographics and thereby provides context for the survey responses we received. It introduces subsequent articles that ...
Journal Article
Community Reinvestment Act lending : is it profitable?
In 1977, Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to encourage federally insured depository institutions to lend in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods and to low- to moderate-income people. Since then, the profitability of the many special lending programs designed to achieve these goals has been questioned on both theoretical and practical grounds. ; The study examines the CRA loan profitability issue in the context of home mortgage lending. We surveyed 97 large institutions to explore profitability differences between their CRA and conventional home mortgage lending. ; ...
Journal Article
Tenth District community banks : who is at risk?
The survey of community banks revealed that many Tenth District community bankers are concerned about their banks' ability to compete and succeed in the future. In light of these concerns, the authors looked at recent performance trends to see how District community banks have done and to determine if any are showing performance weaknesses. They found that Tenth District community banks, as a group, continue to perform well. However, they found that banks with total assets less than $25 million are losing performance ground. At particular risk in this group of banks are smaller banks located ...
Journal Article
Community bank performance in slower growing markets : finding sound strategies for success
A substantial number of community banks in the Tenth Federal Reserve District are located in rural areas that are experiencing slower economic growth, a less vibrant business environment, and little or no population increase. As a result, these banks face a variety of challenges, including how to maintain prosperous banking operations, find sound lending opportunities, and attract an adequate supply of deposits. Other possible challenges involve finding capable staff, growing and achieving an efficient scale of operations, and contributing to the health of their communities. ; This article ...
Journal Article
The 2004 survey of community banks in the Tenth District
Periodically, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City surveys Tenth District bankers for their views on a variety of matters. In February 2004, we solicited banker opinion on a number of topics pertaining to governance and staffing practices, vendor management practices, competitive environment and future prospects, interest rate risk management practices, internet banking services, and payments system issues. This article briefly sets out the survey methodology and describes the applicability of survey results to the entire population of District banks. It also reviews what bankers told us ...
Journal Article
Management and staffing challenges
Community banks are known for their personal service and strong customer relationships. They are an important source of working capital for small businesses and act as engines of economic growth for their communities. If they are to continue in these roles, community banks must be able to attract strong, competent management and dedicated, capable staff. However, our examiners have noted a general aging of senior management at many of the banks they visit. In addition, they have noted instances of understaffing at smaller banks. With this anecdotal information, we asked Tenth District bankers ...
Journal Article
Corporate governance : where do Tenth District community banks stand?
Troubles at publicly traded companies have led to the passage of recently enacted laws that add more rigor and formality to the corporate governance process. Most of these reform proposals and new laws focus on protecting investors in publicly traded firms. Relatively few Tenth District community banks, however, are publicly traded or are subject to new laws that would require them to change their corporate governance practices. Indeed, many are small in asset size, family-owned, closely held, and owner-managed. Given these characteristics, the governance process at community banks tends to ...
Journal Article
Strategic options for bankers in rural development
Many agricultural communities in the Midwest have experience protracted job and population loss. With recent strains in agriculture and the potential for further loss looming, many bankers have expressed an interest in initiatives they can undertake to promote local growth and development. This article outlines a community development process to help bankers succeed with their development activities. Within the context of this process, it recounts the community development initiatives of several small rural community banks, examining the management decisions behind them and lessons gleaned ...