NewsWatch Today

The Federal Reserve Board adopted a final rule outlining and confirming the use of supervisory guidance for regulated institutions.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council issued the 2021 edition of “A Guide to HMDA Reporting: Getting It Right!” for HMDA-related data collected in 2021 and reported in 2022.

President Joe Biden signed into law ICBA-advocated legislation to extend the Paycheck Protection Program ahead of its scheduled expiration. Previously, any PPP application not approved by March 31 could not receive PPP funds.

The IRS said it expects to begin issuing additional Economic Impact Payments this weekend to federal beneficiaries who do not normally file a tax return.

Reps. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) and French Hill (R-Ark.) recently introduced legislation directing the Federal Reserve to work with other agencies to study and issue a report on central bank digital currencies.

The Independent Community Bankers of America today thanked President Joe Biden for signing into law ICBA-advocated legislation to extend the Paycheck Protection Program ahead of its March 31 expiration.

While ICBA last week submitted its comment letter urging the National Credit Union Administration to withdraw a proposal on credit union services organizations, community banks can still submit comment letters after the agency extended the deadline 30 days.

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency asked lenders to suspend adverse actions against guaranteed farm loan borrowers who are members of socially disadvantaged (SDA) groups while the agency develops a method to pay off SDA borrowers' direct and guaranteed loans.

The Internal Revenue Service clarified that the purchase of personal protective equipment, such as masks, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19 are deductible medical expenses.

ICBA thanked Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) for introducing legislation to exempt from taxation interest income on farm real estate and rural mortgage loans.

ICBA called on the NCUA to create a minimum regulatory capital framework that is no less stringent than the Basel III regulatory capital framework in effect for community banks.

April is Community Banking Month, and ICBA offers resources to help community banks get involved, including a toolkit to help tell the community banking story.