Monthly Bulletin – May 2019

Manuel P. Alvarez Appointed Commissioner of the Department of Business Oversight

Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Manuel P. Alvarez as Commissioner of the California Department of Business Oversight. He was sworn in on May 13.

Alvarez was previously general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary at Affirm, Inc. since 2014. Before joining Affirm, he was an enforcement attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2011 to 2014, a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice from 2010 to 2011 and an associate at Dentons LLP from 2007 to 2010.

Alvarez earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. He also serves as a volunteer board member of the Barristers Club of the San Francisco Bar Association and the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association. This position requires Senate confirmation.

Alvarez succeeds Commissioner Jan Lynn Owen, who has guided the DBO since its creation in 2013 as a merger of the former departments of Corporations and Financial Institutions.

2019 National Survey of Community Banks Release

The 2019 National Survey of Community Banks is a major component of the Community Banking in the 21st Century Research and Policy Conference sponsored by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

At last year’s conference, CSBS announced the creation of an ongoing sentiment index of community bankers. Ten short questions have been included toward the end of the National Survey. These questions will be circulated on a quarterly basis for a more accurate understanding of how bankers feel about the current and future state of the industry.

In 2018, 521 banks from 37 states participated in the National Survey. Last year’s publication can be found here.

To add your voice to the 2019 National Survey, please complete the survey at: https://sri.cornell.edu/CB21/2019/. The survey takes about 20 minutes and should be completed by June 30 so that findings may be analyzed and presented in the national publication released during the seventh annual Community Banking in the 21st Century Research and Policy Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

CSBS Vision 2020 Progress Report

In recent years, state financial regulators, through the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), have been making changes to modernize and enhance the regulation of nonbank financial services companies. Collectively, the regulators’ efforts are known as CSBS Vision 2020.

States are the primary regulatory authorities for more than 23,000 nonbanks nationwide, which include mortgage lenders, money transmitters, debt collectors and consumer finance companies.

In 2017, state regulators approved CSBS policy to move toward an integrated, 50-state system of licensing and supervising nonbanks. Vision 2020 is a plan to harmonize the multistate experience as a means of regulatory efficiency and better supervision.

Key Vision 2020 initiatives so far include:

• Formalize industry input from fintech firms
• Develop a next generation technology platform
• Harmonize multistate supervision
• Empower state departments
• Encourage banks to provide banking services to nonbanks
• Improve third-party supervision

Next steps for Vision 2020 include:

• Development of a model payments law
• Expansion of state licensing resources
• Launching a State Examination System (SES) prototype
• Increasing nationwide cybersecurity training
• Enhancing Money Services Business (MSB) supervision
• Building Support for H.R. 241 (Rogers), the Bank Service Company Examination Coordination Act of 2019

Governor Newsom Proclaims May as Small Business Month

Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a proclamation declaring May 2019 as “Small Business Month” in California. Now the world’s fifth largest economy, California has more than 3.9 million small businesses, more than 40 percent of which are minority-owned.

California’s small businesses represent more than 99 percent of total businesses in the state and employ 7 million people – nearly half of California’s private workforce. The 70,350 small firms that export goods from California generated 43 percent of the state’s $152 billion in total exports. By declaring Small Business Month, the Governor affirms his ongoing commitment to help California’s small businesses thrive.

SCO Unclaimed Property Division Spring 2019 Newsletter for Holders

The State Controller’s Office has released the Unclaimed Property Division 2019 Spring Newsletter for Holders. The newsletter includes information of interest to DBO licensees that hold unclaimed property, including banks and credit unions. The newsletter covers:

• Holder remit reports
• Holder due diligence for 2019 report year
• Ask an Analyst: When is an IRA escheatable
• Unclaimed property webinars
• EFT Guidelines at a glance
• Download records

The new Remitting Unclaimed Property to California fact sheet explains how to remit cash, securities and safekeeping property.

If you have any questions, please contact the Holder Outreach and Compliance Unit at [email protected] or call (916) 464-6088.

Commercial Bank Activity

Merger

Rabobank, N.A., Roseville, to merge with and into Mechanics Bank, Walnut Creek
Filed: 4/29/19

Acquisition of Control

Mohamed Ahmar, to acquire control of Partners Bank of California
Filed: 4/10/19

Purchase of Partial Business Unit

Exchange Bank to purchase approximately $80 million of fiduciary assets from American Trust and Savings Bank, Dubuque, IA
Effected: 4/23/19

Change of Name

Redding Bank of Commerce to change its name to Merchants Bank of Commerce
Notified: 4/11/19

Industrial Bank Activity

Change of Name

Rancho Santa Fe Thrift & Loan Association to change its name to Hatch Bank
Effected: 4/12/19

Premium Finance Company Activity

New Premium Finance Company

C & A Funding, Inc.
600 West Broadway, San Diego
Filed: 3/5/19

Mepco PFA, Inc.
10877 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
Opened: 4/29/19

Sparta PFCA, Inc.
1476 North Green Mount Road, O’Fallon, Illinois
Opened: 4/8/19

Credit Union Activity

Merger

Desert Communities Federal Credit Union, Needles, to merge with and into Arrowhead Central Credit Union, Rancho Cucamonga
Effected: 4/1/19

Change of Name

Alliance Credit Union, to change its name to Excite Credit Union
Effected: 4/15/19

Foreign (Other State) Bank Activity

New Facility

Bank of George
18484 Highway 18, Apple Valley, San Bernardino County (Facility – Insured Bank)
Opened: 6/22/18

Discontinuance of Facility

First National Bank in Howell
907 8th Street, Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles County (Facility – Insured Bank)
Discontinued: 4/22/19

Money Transmitter Activity

Acquisition of Control

TF MC Acquisition Corp., to acquire control of Trans-Fast Remittance, Inc.
Filed: 4/10/19

UAE Exchange International Holding Limited, to acquire control of Moneydart Global Services, Inc.
Approved: 4/26/19