The Loan Committee™

The largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp., would have to hold capital in excess of Basel III standards under a proposal being drafted by Senate Democrats and Republicans to curb the size of too-big-to-fail banks.  The current draft of the legislation would require U.S. regulators to replace Basel III requirements with a higher capital standard: 10 percent for all banks and an additional surcharge of 5 percent for institutions with more than $400 billion in assets. Senators Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, and David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, have said they intend to introduce the bill this month. read entire article…. Author:  Cheyenne Hopkins; Source:  Bloomberg

Last May, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) paid roughly $800 million for a majority interest in LCOR, an investment, management and development firm whose portfolio includes 7,400 multifamily units, 7.7 million sq. ft. of commercial space and multiple development projects. In June, the California State Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) plunked down $100 million for one-third of Bentall Kennedy, a real estate investment advisor with $8.4 billion in U.S. assets under management. And in December, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) agreed to pay $250 million for a 49 percent equity stake in a high-rise apartment tower at 8 Spruce Street, in downtown Manhattan, and put down another $551 million for a 70 percent stake in MiMA, a luxury mixed-use complex at West 42nd Street.  read entire article…  Author:  Elaine Misonzhnik, Senior Associate Editor.  Source:  National Real Estate Investor.

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) began February by visiting Capitol Hill to argue that community banks should be exempted from many of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law’s new regulations. ICBA’s vice president of mortgage finance policy, ended the month by writing a comment letter asking that final mortgage rules the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued be adjusted to avoid leaving many consumers without access to mortgage credit. While acknowledging that the ICBA is generally pleased that the final rule provides some flexibility for community banks to continue to offer mortgage loans – including balloon mortgages – to the consumers in their communities, Haynie wrote that concern remained that the exemptions and exceptions would cover far too few community banks.  read entire article…  Author:  Not Listed.  Source:  TriNovus.

Butters Construction & Development is starting the new year with another announcement for the largest new industrial development in Miami-Dade County. Butters has partnered with L&B Realty Advisors to develop a 918,000-square-foot, Class A bulk distribution industrial park on a 44.5-acre site at NW 87th Avenue and NW 80th Street in Medley, Florida. Butters retained CBRE to procure a well-capitalized and institutional equity partner to acquire the site and develop the park. CBRE identified L&B Realty Advisors, and their client, the State of Florida, as the equity partner for the deal.  read entire article…  Author:  Lauren Crawford, CBRE, Source: Real Estate Rama.