Uncle Sean's Update - 12/23/22

Happy Friday!
 
HOLY COWABUNGA IT’S COLD outside!!!!  Keep an eye out for Santa as I am being told on good authority that he is on the way – MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Holiday Update for 12/23/22:
 

• High Five to Quaint Oak Bank as the latest innovative institution to join the BHB BaaS Association!!!

 

• And a shout-out to Schreiner University in Kerrville, TX for the launch of their new banking program with a target towards rural-focused banking needs in Texas – NICE!!!!
  • Special Thank You to Texas Hill Country Bank, Junction National Bank, Texas Bankers Association, and the Independent Bankers Association of Texas for helping to kick-start the new program. 

 

• Just in time for the Holidays!!!  Wells Fargo hit with a record setting $3.7B Settlement fee from the CFPB, smashing the previous record of $1B (also set by ahem, cough, cough - Wells Fargo – congrats???  LOL).   To be clear, this is a termination settlement of the 2016 and 2018 consent orders related to automobile lending, consumer deposit accounts, and mortgage lending.  WF’s federal asset cap (related to opening fake customer accounts) of $1.95T remains in place.
  • CFPB Director, Rohit Chopra, did not mince words in this CFPB Prepared Statement regarding the WF Legal Action.  Here are some of my favorite quotes:
    • “In the CFPB’s eleven years of existence, Wells Fargo has consistently been one of the most problematic repeat offenders of the banks and credit unions we supervise”
    • “rinse-repeat cycle of consumer abuse at this firm”
    • “it is also clear that they are not making rapid progress”
    • “Put simply, Wells Fargo is a corporate recidivist”
      • Hey Rohit, don’t hold back – tell us how you really feel!  😲
  • Wells Fargo issued a statement showing significant progress in strengthening its risk and control infrastructure over the past several years.  “We have made significant progress over the last three years and are a different company today,” Scharf said. “We remain committed to doing the right thing for our customers and working closely with our regulators and others to deal appropriately with any issue that arises.”

 

• In a rapid turn of events (is there any other way with this guy), Sam Bankman-Fried voluntarily agreed to be extradited to the US and face trial by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
  • While SFB was in the air enroute to the US, it was announced that former FTX technology chief and co-founder Zixiao "Gary" Wang and former CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison (also ex-girlfriend of indicted former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried) have plead guilty to various criminal charges and are cooperating with the Manhattan U.S. attorney in its case against Bankman-Fried.
  • After landing in the US, SBF went straight to court for bail proceedings where he was released on $250M bond and an electronic ankle monitor (I’m guessing the court did not accept FTT as collateral for the bond – LMAO).  Pretty sweet trade for ole SBF going from Fox Hill to Mom & Dad’s crib for the Holidays!  Next court date is set for Jan. 3 where he’ll enter his plea. 
  • Just in case you are wondering….. 
    • Genesis is STILL not allowing withdrawals from their platform (since Nov 11 - WOW) and a Creditor Committee has been formed (includes Gemini who is owed $900M from Genesis) and is attempting to “provide a path for the recovery of assets” from Genesis and their parent company, Digital Currency Group.
    • FTX.US customers with checking accounts and debit cards are still being held due to the FTX Bankruptcy stay (ref West Realm Shires Services Inc. - FTX Bankruptcy Case), but are safe and secure and will be released after court order - thankfully due to Evolve Bank & Trust being a regulated, compliant, and FDIC insured entity – literally the ONLY piece of good news for US customers in this entire FTX debacle.

 

• No surprise here – Binance.US to acquire Voyager Digital assets in a renewed BK bid subject to Bankruptcy Court approval (hearing scheduled for Jan 5, 2023).
  • Worth noting that the $1.022B price tag is almost $400M less than the $1.42B FTX US bid back in Sept.

 

• And two more CU deals were announced this week (there were 2 last week and a total of 5 deals announced in December thus far):
  • Land of Lincoln Credit Union (Charter 63716; Decatur, IL; $374M Total Assets) announced an agreement to acquire Colchester State Bank (FDIC 18855; Colchester, IL; $82M Total Assets).
  • Alabama One Credit Union (Charter 68595; Tuscaloosa, AL; $939M Total Assets) announced an agreement to acquire First Bank (FDIC 1744; Wadley, AL; $88M Total Assets).
    • First Bank is the subsidiary of Peoples Independent Bancshares, Inc. (FR 1918755).  Peoples has another bank subsidiary, Peoples Independent Bank (FDIC 27233), which is not part of the acquisition.  The bank holding company will continue to operate and retain Peoples Independent Bank.
  • And this brings the total to 16 announced acquisitions of a bank by a CU so far for 2022.  Compares to 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019 (Source: FedFis).

 

• Wedge (smart card enabling customers to use any asset such as stocks, ETF’s, and crypto for everyday purchases) announced that they have joined the Fiserv AppMarket to enable FI’s access to innovative programmable payments capabilities.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Howl (influencer marketing platform connecting creators with brands and facilitating instant payments via Stripe) raised $27M in Series A funding round.
  • Gynger (alt lending / SaaS financing platform) raised $21.7M in capital consisting of $10M in debt and $11.7M in Seed funding.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Whoa - WATCH OUT SANTA – the skies are getting crowded!!!!  Walmart has officially started their drone delivery service for select markets in Texas, Arizona, and Florida through their partnership with DroneUp.  For my North Texas and Dallas area friends, you can use the drone delivery service right now ($3.99 fee) if you live within 1 mile from these Walmart stores.
• Okay, this is a repeat post from a few years ago – but the Uncle Sean Update was not widely distributed at that time.  With this being Christmas week, I thought it would be fun to revisit this post about what Christmas was like when me and Davey were younger (about 100 years ago - LOL).  I hope it brings some joy to your Holidays!
  • My absolute favorite time is when we would spend Christmas with our Grandparents in Purcell, OK.  That house was about 900 sq ft with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath; and that includes the closed in single car garage where all the men would hang out and generally solve the problems of the world (all the while admiring Grandpa’s tools on his peg board).  The house had a window unit in the living room and a floor furnace.  There were gas wall heaters in the bathroom and the enclosed garage.  Yes, that one in the bathroom would brand you if you backed into it.  Looking back, we were indeed dirt poor, but we never really knew it.  Our Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins would pack in there and it was crazy (especially the one bathroom part)!  There would be up to 15+ people in that 900 sq ft house and at night time it looked like a MASH triage center with kids in sleeping bags covering every inch of the floor in the living room underneath the glow of our artificial Christmas tree.  You literally couldn’t walk through there at night without kicking or stepping on someone.  It was great!!!!  Our Grandma (Nannie) would wake up at 5:00AM religiously (due to all the years of making early breakfast since Grandpa had to be at work by 6AM at the train depot) and start making coffee.  I vividly remember the sound and smell of the coffee percolator immediately followed by either bacon on the stove top or homemade cinnamon toast cooking in the bottom broiler of the oven.  Our days were generally spent climbing Red Hill while looking for critters and Rose Rocks; playing in the alley; catfishing and exploring at the City Lake (hey Dave – remember that time you fell through the ice on the sled with me and Scott laughing – HAHAHA); or hunting squirrels and rabbits at Lexington WMA (we called it the Rifle Range due to it being a former military training site during WWII).  Mom and Nannie would make trips to United grocery and the Dime Store for last minute essentials pretty much every day (undoubtedly just for some peace and quiet).  Occasionally we would get a glimpse of Nannie’s S&H Green Stamp book and wonder in awe what she was going to redeem it for (precursor to debit rewards platform?).  Nights were spent playing Gin Rummy or Dominoes while we awaited phone calls from other relatives that couldn’t be there.  Grandpa was ‘hard of hearing’ so the phone had a special ringer that was like a bolt of electricity shooting through your spine when it rang – that ringer could just about wake the dead (the doorbell was twice as bad)!!!  Wait, it gets even better – our Grandma on our Dad’s side of the family lived just a block away.  We would run across the street, cut through the alley behind Ms. Kosak’s house, and be at our other Grandma’s house in less than a minute.  Even though that time period only lasted a handful of years when we were young, it was fantastic!!!  😊

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and a very Merry Christmas – and stay warm and safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.