Publications

With Tax Reform signed into law in December, we discuss its impact on the municipal market, specifically for bank investors. Summary of Relevant Tax Law Changes: Corporate tax rate cut…

When most economists discuss changes in the fed funds rate, the most commonly discussed relationships are unemployment, gross domestic product, and inflation expectations.  However, credit conditions are often indicators of…

The Keystone State is the latest to experience a recent credit action from S&P. Illinois, Kentucky, and Puerto Rico havealso seen their ratings lowered due to budgetary challenges and pension…

Throughout 2015, the story of the year was “When will the Fed move on rates?” “Will they or won’t they?” We had to wait nearly the entire year for an answer,…

Most of us are familiar with assessing a bank’s safety and soundness using the acronym “CAMELS”. The last letter, “S” represents the bank’s “Sensitivity” to changing interest rates. The interest-rate risk…

On Thursday, September 3rd, the Commonwealth of Kentucky received a credit rating downgrade from Standard & Poor’ Rating Services. The rating cut lowered the issuer credit rating on Kentucky to…

Interest rate risk model assumptions are a very important component of an institution’s risk management process. We are all too familiar with the cliché “garbage in – garbage out” referring to…

As many of you are aware, the Transaction Account Guarantee Program (TAG) is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2012. The TAG program, which was originally a part of the Dodd-Frank…

In 2014 Janet Yellen became the new Federal Reserve Chairman and ended the quantitative easing programs. The economy had a slow start, resulting from an unseasonably cold winter, and gained momentum…

Capital is the foundation of the banking system to help facilitate economic growth and provide a buffer against potential shocks that may arise. Capital planning is an ongoing, dynamic, forward‐looking…