Congressional Hearings

The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on Tuesday related to taxation of digital assets.

On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing entitled “AI and the American Dream: Promoting Innovation, Affordability, and American Dominance.” 

Tokenized Deposits System for Banks

A group of the nation’s largest banks have announced a digital payments initiative that will enable clearing and settlement of tokenized deposits at scale. The initiative will be operated by The Clearing House and will deliver 24/7 settlement and will link blockchain-based activity with the RTP (Real-Time Payments) and CHIPS (Clearing House Interbank Payments Systems) networks. 

Celebrating Growth and Community Investment

Your friends at the NCBA are always glad for opportunities to connect with members across North Carolina and celebrate the important work banks are doing in their communities.

M&F Bank Annual Shareholder Meeting

Recently, NCBA President & CEO Peter Gwaltney attended the annual shareholders meeting of M&F Bank NC in Durham. Founded in 1907, M&F Bank is the second-oldest minority-owned bank in the United States and continues to build on 119 years of service to its customers and communities.

Congratulations to Jim Sills, the M&F Bank team and the bank’s Board of Directors on another inspiring year.

First Federal Savings Bank Visit

NCBA Chairman Jim Marshall also recently visited First Federal Savings Bank of Lincolnton, where he met with Kelly Atkins and Charlie Reep. Founded in 1940 to help local families finance home ownership, First Federal has remained an independent, locally headquartered mutual savings bank for more than 85 years, serving Lincoln, Catawba, Gaston and surrounding communities.

First National Bank Celebrates Grand Opening of Ellis Road Branch
NCBA’s Nathan Batts, Senior Vice President & Counsel, was also pleased to join the FNB team and community partners on June 8 for the ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration of the bank’s Ellis Road branch in Durham. The event marked an exciting milestone for FNB and reflected the bank’s continued investment in serving customers and communities across North Carolina.

Thank you to our member banks for the work you do every day to serve North Carolina’s communities.

United Bank Promotes NC Bankers to Market President Roles

United Bank recently announced the promotions of two North Carolina bankers to market president roles.

William Autry
William Autry has been named Greenville market president, where he will lead commercial and retail growth efforts while representing United Bank in the Greenville community. Autry has 21 years of banking experience, including six with United, and most recently served as senior vice president and commercial lender.

Zach Carlton
Zach Carlton has been promoted to president of United Bank’s Triangle Market, which includes offices across Wake and Durham counties. Carlton will lead growth efforts in the Raleigh and Durham areas while strengthening the bank’s community presence. He has 14 years of banking experience, including six with United, and most recently served as senior vice president and commercial lender.

CFPB Issues New Guidance on Checking Consumer's Immigration Status

Creditors may be legally obligated to check a consumer's immigration status for mortgage loans and credit cards, especially where removal from the U.S. may disrupt the consumer's income, the CFPB said in new guidance.

“The Bureau expects compliance with the law and failure to account for such a reasonably expected change in income may not comply with a creditor's obligation to reasonably assess a borrower's ability to repay the loan or line of credit sought.”

FinCEN Advisory 

FinCEN has issued an advisory warning financial institutions “to be vigilant against fraud schemes and other suspicious or potentially criminal activities involving the unlawful employment of illegal aliens and the associated risks to the integrity of the U.S. financial system.”

One portion of the advisory focuses on individual taxpayer identification numbers and notes that when an ITIN is presented in lieu of an SSN or valid employment authorization document to obtain credit products or open an account, banks are encouraged to assess whether the use of an ITIN may be a relevant risk factor.

VA Partial Claim Program 

As part of strategies to reduce the incidence of foreclosures, the Department of Veterans Affairs has finalized a new partial claim program and broader loss mitigation updates. Beginning June 15, the program will provide Veterans experiencing financial hardship with an additional option to avoid foreclosure.

Baker Market Update

The 10yr Treasury started the week trading around 4.45% and sits at 4.53% as of the time of this writing, as green shoots in a recently struggling labor market have begun to get priced in. The week's calendar was decidedly jobs heavy. Tuesday's JOLTS report showed job openings jumping to 7.618M (est = 6.866M), with the openings rate climbing to 4.6% from 4.2% the prior month.

Layoffs also fell, to 1.692M (est = 1.842M), as did quits, to 2.977M (est = 3.138M), a mix that points to firmer labor demand and less slack than the market had been positioned for.

Need Credits? Earn CRCM, CPE, SHRM and More!

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Huntington Bank Opens First Branch in Kernersville

Huntington Bank opened a new full-service branch at 250 E. Mountain St. in Kernersville, marking its fourth full-service branch in North Carolina’s Triad and 10th full-service branch in the Carolinas. The bank says the location is part of a broader plan to open about 55 branches across the region.

"The future depends on 
what we do in the present."

- Mahatma Gandhi