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Interchange Settlement
Check Out Fees OK, $6 Billion
to Retailers
 On
July 13 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
announced a settlement in the long-term legal
dispute between retailers, payment networks and nine major card
issuers over interchange fees and rules. Two of the primary
headlines from the settlement are that card networks and bank
participants will pay $6.05 billion to retailers and retailers will
be able to impose a "check out" fee at the cash register for use of
the card.
Read more of the details about effects on banks and
consumers ...
ATM
News Roundup
Fee
Disclosure Bill Update and a Good Ruling for Banks in ATM
Antitrust Suit
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson
(D-S.D.) this week introduced a bill (S. 3394) that combines ATM
placard relief legislation with another bill to protect privileged
information provided to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
And in other ATM news,
plaintiffs in a
lawsuit alleging collusion in setting ATM fees against several
national banks don't have standing to file such a suit, according to
a recent court ruling.
More
about ATM legislation and litigation...
Farm Bill Reauthorization Advances
 The House
Agriculture Committee last week approved its version of
the 2012 Farm Bill (H.R. 6083). The five-year reauthorization
legislation is projected to save more than $35 billion, about $11
billion more than the bill (S. 3240) the Senate passed on June 21.
The House legislation, unlike its Senate counterpart, would preserve
a price support program that pays farmers when prices fall below
certain levels. Southern rice and peanut farmers, who objected to
the Senate bill's elimination of price supports, favor the target
price system.
Read more about the Farm Bill...
GBA President/CEO Conference
Seifried to Headline Economic Update
 How
will the elections, continued low
rates and other Fed actions play out for the economy the rest of the
year and in 2013? Join Dr. Ed Seifried, Co-Chairman,
Seifried & Brew, LLC, Allentown, PA, as he makes a pre-election
forecast as to what 2013 has in store for community bankers. GBA's
2012 annual
President/CEO
Conference
is Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 at
The
Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro.
Read more about the conference and register today....
First CFPB Enforcement Action a Big
Fine for Capital One
 Capital
One has been ordered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and
OCC to pay $210 million total in damages; $150 million to affected
customers and $60 million in fines to the regulatory agencies. This
is the first enforcement order by the CFPB.
Learn more about the
CFPB's first enforcement action...
Georgia Mortgage Fraud Trends Improve
Mortgage fraud levels, while still elevated, are dropping in
Georgia. And, loans made last year have shown less fraud than
expected. Those are the positive trends noted in a recent report by
LexisNexis measuring post-funding fraud investigations.
And, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance
reports that the Georgia Mortgage Fraud Index that covers all
originations and has been in use since 2003 shows incidents of
mortgage fraud has declined consistently and precipitously since
that time.
Find out about a new mortgage
fraud concern...
Positive Traction Cited in
Housing Market
 In
Georgia, monthly permits for construction of new single-family
houses have increased from 957 in January to 1,419 in May, for a
total of 6,328 permits this year, according to the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution and the Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
There were other encouraging signs for housing, as well...
Modest Economic Expansion Cited by
Fed
 The
most recent Federal Reserve Beige Book summary of economic
conditions says economic activity in the
Sixth District expanded at a modest pace
in June and early July. The auto and hospitality
industries reported good activity, and homebuilders and real estate
brokers reported modest improvement. Bank contacts reported good
auto lending activity and modest gains in residential real estate.
However, commercial and industrial lending was soft and competition
for credit-worthy customers is stiff. Low rates and the limited
number of quality borrowers are pressuring margins, the report said.
See the full
report here.
2012
BankPAC Campaign Update
 Thanks
to the employees, officers and directors
who contributed to the GBA FedPAC this week and to the banks contributing to the GBA StatePAC. Now is the time to make your
contributions if you haven't done so yet.
See who has contributed
recently...
Attention Compliance Officers
ABA Reference Guide to Regulatory Compliance Now
Available
The ABA Reference Guide to Regulatory Compliance (22nd Edition) is
an ideal resource for compliance managers, department managers and
staff, product managers and retail branch banking managers.
Find
out more and how to order...
401(k) Participant Fee Disclosures
Coming
 If you offer a 401(k) plan to your employees, you should have
received a detailed fee disclosure (the
"408(b)(2) Disclosure") from your plan service providers by June 30,
2012. If
you did not receive anything from your service providers, you should
contact them for this information as soon as possible because all
providers should have complied with these new regulations.
Learn
more
about these disclosures...
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Key GBA
Event
Reminders
Newsmakers
Read about all the Georgia Bankers making news this week...
Read All About It:
Send Us Your News
Please remember to include the Georgia
Bankers Association on the list of recipients for announcements
about promotions, new employees and special recognition your bank
has received. We want to share your news with your colleagues across
the state. Please forward your announcements and photos to GBA's
David Oliver and Bogan Brannen.
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