Alert - Patent Infringement Lawsuits

A group of Georgia and Texas community banks have been sued or are in the process of being sued by a "patent troll” for certain patent infringements. It appears these banks are being notified in clusters so we felt it was important for the CBA membership to be aware of this in case other lawsuits are forthcoming. If you should receive such notification, contact Jason Pruitt at the CBA office.

Frank Releases House Reg-Reform Offer with Independent Community Bankers of America Priorities

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) released the House offer for several titles of financial regulatory reform legislation with several CBA of Georgia / Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) priorities. Among its provisions, the House legislative offer to the Senate would permanently extend the Transaction Account Guarantee program and permanently increase FDIC deposit-insurance coverage to $250,000. The deposit-insurance increase would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008. Both of these provisions have been key priorities throughout the regulatory reform debate.

Conference committee negotiations on financial reform legislation resumed on Tuesday, June 15^th. Conferees are expected to focus on the thrift charter, the Office of Thrift Supervision, a federal office of insurance and credit rating agencies. Conference negotiations are expected to continue through the end of June.

CBA of GA and ICBA continues to encourage community bankers to contact their members of Congress in support of a letter instructing House conferees to oppose interchange language included in the financial reform bill.

Meanwhile, community bankers can continue to contact their members of Congress to encourage conferees to make other needed changes to the regulatory reform bill, such as fixing the Collins amendment on trust-preferred securities and avoiding punitive lending limits on state banks. Contact Your Member on Interchange. Contact Your Member on Reg Reform.

FDIC Guidance on Deposit Placement and Collection Activities

On June 7, 2010, the FDIC issued this guidance on deposit placement and collection activities at FDIC-insured institutions and their affiliates. The guidance outlines steps depository institutions should take to avoid customer misunderstanding about deposit insurance coverage when the institutions enter into third-party arrangements to collect and place deposits. Failure to properly administer deposit collection practices in a manner that prevents customer confusion and complies with deposit insurance rules will be factored into the supervisory assessment of the institution and may result in enforcement actions and penalties pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 1828(a)(4). To review the guidance, please click here.

Calculate Savings for Your Bank
Under New FDIC Assessment Rates

Community bankers can calculate how much they will save under the expanded CBA Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA)- advocated deposit-insurance assessment base included in the House and Senate financial reform bills.

ICBA's updated frequently asked questions and spreadsheet has more details on how the lower assessment rates will help community banks and use fourth-quarter call report data to project savings for the nation's community banks. Georgia's community banks could potentially save in the range of $2,500 to $2,500,000 in annual premiums.

The new system, which will base assessments on assets minus tangible capital instead of domestic deposits, will allow the FDIC to lower assessment rates on community banks by approximately 37 percent. Instead of paying 30 percent of total assessments collected by the FDIC as they do under the current assessment base, community banks under $10 billion would pay 20 percent of total assessments, resulting in billions of dollars in savings for the industry.