National Standard for Rounding Penny Transactions

On Monday, the U.S. Senate passed the Common Cents Act (H.R. 10167) by unanimous consent, clearing the bill for it to go to President Donald Trump for his signature. The bill, which previously passed the U.S. House on September 14th, creates a national standard for rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel, and it formally directs the U.S. Treasury Department to stop minting the penny (though production ended last year). Passage of the bill is important for creating uniformity as until now various states around the country have had to tackle the issue individually as North Carolina did with the enactment this past July of Senate Bill 595, a bill by Senators David Craven and Tom McInnis, that included rounding rules as Part XIV of the bill. 

GENIUS Act Implementation

The Federal Reserve has proposed new rules to require payment stablecoin issuers under its supervision to back their stablecoins with certain reserve assets, such as short-term Treasury bills and certain other high-quality, liquid assets. The proposal would also establish standardized capital requirements to address certain credit and operational risks of payment stablecoin activities, as well as risk management standards, and establish an application process for state member banks seeking to create subsidiaries that issue stablecoins.

Providence Bank Raises More Than $20,000 for NC BankPAC

NCBA President & CEO Peter Gwaltney visited Providence Bank President & CEO Ted Whitehurst in Rocky Mount this week following the completion of the bank’s internal fundraising campaign for NC BankPAC.

Providence Bank employees raised more than $20,000 through the campaign.

NCBA extends its thanks to Ted Whitehurst and everyone at Providence Bank for their participation and support of NC BankPAC.

Truist Foundation Supports Nearly $4M in New Western NC Recovery Grants

The Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery and Resiliency Fund has announced nearly $4 million in grants to 18 organizations supporting long-term recovery from Hurricane Helene.

The latest grants will support housing repair, behavioral health programs, environmental restoration and other resiliency efforts across western North Carolina.

Since the fund was launched in January 2025 in partnership with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, nearly $19 million has been awarded to 54 local organizations working throughout the region.

Pinnacle Named No. 1 Best Place to Work for Women

Pinnacle Financial Partners has earned the No. 1 spot nationwide on Best Companies Group’s 2026 list of Best Places to Work for Women. The recognition is based on survey feedback gathered directly from employees and marks Pinnacle’s first appearance in the competition’s enterprise category.

General Assembly Schedule

When state legislators passed an adjournment resolution in early August, they set out their planned schedule for the remainder of the year, which provided for possible returns each month. Many of the dates appeared calendared for strategic flexibility, leaving the door open to return or consider veto overrides.

Like Congress, we are anticipating a lame duck session beginning in November and extending until December 18th. A new two-year session of the General Assembly will begin in January with bill filings starting over, so this “lame duck” session will be the final opportunity for some who are retiring or who may lose their elections to pass legislation before the new session convenes.

The Partisan Split by the Numbers

There are 120 legislators serving in the NC House and 50 legislators serving in the NC Senate. Republicans currently hold 30 seats – a 3/5 supermajority – in the Senate to 20 seats by Democrats. In the House, Republicans currently hold 71 seats, one short of the 72 needed for a veto-proof supermajority, while Democrats hold 47 seats and 2 legislators are unaffiliated. All 170 seats are on the ballot for the election on Tuesday, November 3rd.

The latest NC Board of Elections data reflects that a number are running either unopposed or lack major party opposition by a Democrat or Republican, including 6 seats in the NC Senate, and 36 seats in the NC House.

CISA Warning

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an urgent alert about critical vulnerabilities in Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway that attackers are actively exploiting. Many banks use these products to manage and secure digital banking data. CISA is warning businesses to take immediate action to protect their systems.

Senate Entering Recess,
House Adjourned

___________________________________

The U.S. Senate is wrapping up its remaining business this week before recessing until the week after the midterm elections. Meanwhile, the U.S. House adjourned on September 17th after House Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the chamber two weeks early.

After this week, the schedule leaves just 20 legislative days remaining in the year for the House, and 22 legislative days for the Senate.

Indexing Bank Regulatory Thresholds

U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-AL), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, has introduced the Tailoring and Indexing Enhanced Regulations (TIER) Act. The legislation would modernize asset-based thresholds in federal banking law. The legislation would make a one-time adjustment to key statutory thresholds to reflect historical economic growth and then establish a process for periodically updating covered thresholds going forward.

Pictured: Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL)

More on Threshold Changes

A news report suggests that the Federal Reserve is working on a plan to raise asset thresholds applicable to large banks. The article notes that current rules impose stricter requirements when a bank reaches $100 billion in assets, stepping up at $250 billion and again at $700 billion.

Reportedly, the Fed is considering reindexing the highest threshold closer to $1 trillion and some of the requirements ⁠triggered by the lower threshold closer to $150 billion, with changes expected to be proposed later this year.

Bank Closure in Irvine, CA

Nano Banc of Irvine, California, was closed on Friday by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. The FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Sunwest Bank of Sandy, Utah to assume substantially all deposits and acquire certain assets of Nano Banc.

The FDIC estimates that the failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund approximately $114 million.

Concerns Raised About Proposed CRA Changes

The Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee have sent a letter to FDIC Chairman Travis Hill and Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould raising concerns about “weakening” the Community Reinvestment Act and requesting more time for public comment on proposed changes to rules implementing the law.

L-to-R: Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould, FDIC Chairman Travis Hill

OCC Mortgage Performance Report

The OCC has released its second quarter 2026 mortgage metrics report, which showed that 97.7% of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system were current and performing at the end of the quarter. The figure was unchanged from the previous quarter.

In Memoriam: Dr. Don L. Woodland

The Graduate School of Banking at LSU has announced the passing of Dr. Don L. Woodland, a longtime educator and leader whose service to the school spanned more than 50 years.

Throughout his decades of involvement with GSBLSU, Dr. Woodland played an important role in shaping the school’s academic programs and advancing banking education. His commitment to academic excellence, leadership and service left a lasting mark on the institution and on generations of bankers and banking leaders who passed through its programs.

In honor of his legacy, GSBLSU is working with Dr. Woodland’s family to establish the Dr. Don L. Woodland Banking Education Scholarship.

The North Carolina Bankers Association extends its condolences to Dr. Woodland’s family, friends, colleagues and the entire GSBLSU community.

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United Bank Welcomes Edward Timberlake, Jr. as Gastonia Market President

United Bank has named Edward Timberlake, Jr. as Gastonia Market president. In the role, Timberlake will lead the bank’s commercial and retail growth efforts across Gaston County while helping strengthen United’s community presence.

Timberlake brings more than 20 years of banking and community development experience. He will be based in United Bank’s Gastonia office and will also represent the bank through civic, professional and community organizations.

Pinnacle Grows Deposits Across North Carolina

Pinnacle Financial Partners reported continued growth across North Carolina, reaching $7.7 billion in deposits as of June 30, 2026, an increase of $762 million from the previous year.

According to newly released FDIC data, Pinnacle gained deposits in every major North Carolina market and now ranks No. 10 statewide with 1.1% market share. The firm reported particularly strong year-over-year deposit growth in Burlington, Asheville, Durham-Chapel Hill and Winston-Salem.

"Alone we can do so little. 
Together we can do so much.”

- Helen Keller