6/1/2021
Six months into his administration, Biden has veered toward the hard left and is getting accolades from the same progressives who were skeptical of his leadership.
5/1/2021
Conventional wisdom and the pundits predicted that the 87th Regular Session would be a low bill session. With more than 7,001 bills filed to date, the pundits have been proven wrong.
4/1/2021
In addition to dealing with the pandemic, President Biden has two other policy goals he campaigned on: the need for greater diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of American life and the fight against climate change.
3/1/2021
President Biden, federal agencies and Congressional allies will propose a number of challenges to Texas banking.
2/1/2021
With Democrats running the executive branch and both houses of Congress, the momentum is with the progressive left. New Yorker Chuck Schumer will be the new Senate Majority Leader and Democrats will chair all committees.
1/1/2021
Just when we thought we had survived the worst of the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB has released an outline of various proposals to create a HMDA-like regime for small business lending.
12/1/2020
From the perspective of community bankers, gridlock is a good thing. The unknown is how far left the federal banking agencies will go but I anticipate that many actions will be challenged in the courts.
11/1/2020
Will Congress do anything to help small businesses? There is currently a standoff on another round of COVID spending. Most likely, it will depend on which party wins the presidency and which party controls the Senate.
10/1/2020
Part of the mandate given to the CFPB was Section 1071, which
amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require financial institutions to compile, maintain and submit to the bureau certain data on applications
for credit for women-owned, minor-
9/1/2020
While most attention is being paid to potential changes in environmental policies, corporate taxation and immigration law, it is worth considering what may happen on banking issues in the regulatory agencies and on the legislative front.
8/1/2020
On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled in the Seila Law decision that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau violated the separation of powers doctrine.
7/1/2020
For the first time, the Fed was directed to get into the lending business due to the CARES Act mandate and over $450 billion in appropriations to cover any loan losses.
6/1/2020
The effect of nonperforming and underperforming loans in community bank portfolios continues to be a concern.
5/1/2020
The latest Congressional response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a massive $2.2 trillion appropriation to try to create a backstop for the economy.
4/1/2020
The lack of transparency in the CRA process is something that has concerned many bankers.
3/1/2020
In late January, the NCUA issued a proposed rule to allow credit unions with more than $500 million in assets to issue subordinated debt.
2/1/2020
“Elections have consequences. I won,” President Obama told congressional Republicans shortly after his inauguration in 2009.
1/1/2020
In a state with an estimated population of more than 28 million, it’s amazing what the Texas Legislature accomplishes in 140 days every other year.
12/1/2019
In October, the Supreme Court agreed to consider a constitutional challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
11/1/2019
Unfortunately, because Texas is so economically prosperous, we???re a ripe target for thieves perpetrating card skimming crimes. Thankfully, steps are being taken to address card skimming, at least at Texas??? gas pumps.
10/1/2019
Despite the negligence of a few financial services providers, the banking industry is the gold standard when it comes to customer privacy and data protection.
9/1/2019
Bankers across Texas have told us how troublesome and expensive the credit losses (CECL) accounting standard will be. The FASB chairman says he believes that the benefits justify the costs, yet FASB failed to do a cost benefit analysis.
8/1/2019
The Democratic primaries in 2016 did not involve a lot of discussion about banking issues. Times have changed.