WASHINGTON — Americans retreated from signing contracts to buy homes in April for the second straight month, a possible sign that a declining number of homes on the market are stifling sales during the traditional spring buying season.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that its pending home sales index fell 1.3 percent in April to 109.8, after slipping 0.9 percent in March to 111.3. The index has fallen 3.3 percent over the past 12 months.

Potential buyers are crowding open houses in many neighborhoods because there are fewer sales listings. Rising home values have not led more people to list their properties for sale, contrary to the expectations of many economists that great demand would lead to increased supplies. The number of properties for sale has plunged 9 percent over the past year to 1.93 million, according to the Realtors in a separate report last week.

Pending sales contracts are a barometer of future purchases. A sale is typically completed a month or two after a contract is signed.

Signed contracts in April fell in the Midwest and South, stayed unchanged in the West and increased in the Northeast.

(All contents © copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Home BancShares Inc. of Conway, parent company of Centennial Bank, announced Wednesday that it will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 and removed from the S&P SmallCap 600 before the market opens on Friday.

The S&P MidCap 400 provides investors with a benchmark for mid-sized companies. The index measures the performance of mid-sized companies, reflecting the distinctive risk and return characteristics of this market segment.

Index constituents are classified according to the Global Industry Classification Standard, and Home BancShares will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 GICS Regional Banks Sub-Industry index.

This week’s Arkansas Business is dedicated to our 24th class of 40 Under 40 honorees, young leaders of business, government and nonprofits selected by an internal committee from a field of about 400 nominations submitted by readers.

First, I need to point out that there are actually 41 in this year’s class because the honorees include the duo of Terrance Clark and Will Staley, founders of Thrive Inc. in Helena-West Helena. We’ve recognized married couples and twin brothers in past years, but this is the first time we’ve recognized co-founders of a nonprofit this way.

This is the 18th year I’ve edited this feature, and some members of the first group I worked on in 2000 are still making news — Shane Broadway, John N. Roberts III and Darrin Williams among them. The committee that makes the selections considers both previous accomplishments and future potential, but predicting the course of anyone’s career — or life, for that matter — is a fool’s game. Any one of these 41 names may be a breakout star in our state’s business community — but that’s true of one of the hundreds of nominees who weren’t selected.

That’s why I would never claim that these are the best or the most promising young leaders in our state. But our committee did find them very impressive, and we think that readers of Arkansas Business will benefit from being introduced to them.

More: Read profiles of each member of the 2017 40 Under 40 class here.

As usual, this year’s honorees tend to be from the state’s population centers in central and northwest Arkansas. That’s where most of our readers are clustered, so that’s where most of the nominees were. But in addition to Helena, our tour of young leaders also passed through Marion, Jonesboro, Heber Springs, Searcy, Batesville, El Dorado and Fort Smith. Wherever there is talent, we want to call it to the attention of the Arkansas Business audience.

We also look for leadership in a variety of industries. Last year it seemed like government had a lot of representation; this year the list is heavy on banking and law, but health care, restaurants, construction, marketing and others are also represented.

At a time when the topic of immigration is almost too hot to mention, our committee discovered that some of the nominees who impressed us most were immigrants or the children of immigrants, and Arkansas is better for them.

The number of nominations gives us confidence that we have a quality class of honorees, just like a bigger school has a better football team. But there is a common drawback: The starters tend to be upperclassmen. Sixteen of the 41 were either 38 or 39 when they were chosen — one actually turned 40 after being selected — and this year we have no 20-somethings.

This problem is the very reason Arkansas Business introduced a 20 in Their 20s feature eight years ago. We’ll be featuring those New Influentials in the Sept. 25 issue, so don’t forget to submit your nominations by June 30 at ArkansasBusiness.com/20. (Don’t worry: Nominees for 40 Under 40 who are still in their 20s will also be considered.)

A luncheon recognizing this year’s honorees will be held at the Embassy Suites in west Little Rock on Wednesday, June 14. The luncheon is open to those of us who never made the cut. For more details, go to ArkansasBusiness.com/40Lunch.

Gwen Moritz
Editor

Jerry Morgan, 47, joined Focus Bank of Charleston, Missouri, in 2013 as its community bank president for its three branches in the Jonesboro market. Focus Bank has 12 locations in Missouri and Arkansas with total assets of $734.9 million. Before joining Focus Bank, Morgan spent 21 years at Simmons First Bank of Pine Bluff. Morgan is chairman of the Jonesboro Advertising & Promotions Commission.

Morgan earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He was an Arkansas Business 40 Under 40 honoree in 2007.

You worked at a big bank; how is the competition between big vs. community banks since you’ve experienced both?

Many bankers will tell you that the northeast Arkansas market has some of the strongest competition for deposits and loans in the state and even country. As a community bank you just have to try to find your niche in the market and stay focused on what is working for your particular bank.

One advantage as a local bank is we are able to react quicker to decision-making and also changes in the marketplace that might dictate how we need to either deliver our services better or faster. We are also able to adjust our products to market conditions and the needs of our local customers, whereas a much larger bank many times has a “one-size-fits-all” approach to product pricing, delivery methods and processes. In my opinion, this has severely hindered many larger regional banks from really thriving and taking advantage of their economies of scale.

What would you like to see Congress do for community bankers?

Generate tailored regulatory relief that is based on the bank’s size, not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Well-intended regulations have taken the discretion out of the bankers’ hands. Loans that we could have made eight to 10 years ago we can’t approve anymore because the customer doesn’t fit all of the check boxes. This is true for not only mortgage loans but small business and commercial lending. Passing of tailored regulation this session would allow banks to help spur economic growth in our communities.

What are the biggest challenges for a community bank?

The regulatory requirements mentioned above are the biggest challenges for traditional community banks. The cost involved with maintaining the new regulations that have been put in place over the past five to 10 years has strangled many smaller community banks. This has forced them into consolidation mode with the ultimate losers being the communities they serve.

Why are community banks still an important part of the financial landscape?

Community banks continue to be the lifeblood of many smaller and rural towns across America and especially in Arkansas. With most civic or charity organizations, you will probably find local banks and bankers being the anchor to their success. We continue to give not only the donations to fund these organizations but, more importantly, the manpower to help them succeed. We are fortunate that many bankers in the larger banks across Arkansas began in much smaller organizations. Most have continued this tradition of giving back regardless of the size of their organizations, and the state as a whole continues to benefit.

What have you learned in the decade since you were a 40 Under 40 honoree?

Wow, when it is termed a “decade,” it makes me feel really old. The biggest career lesson is that you just have to love what you are doing. If you don’t enjoy your job then you can’t be passionate about it. I have also learned that there has to be a balance between work and your family life. This is an area that I constantly battle, but I try my best to maintain that balance.

A 72-unit townhome project in Maumelle tipped the scales at $4.4 million.

AHBI Windsor Park LLC, led by James Kincannon, purchased its namesake property at 2 Windsor Drive. The seller is Windsor Park Maumelle LLC, led by Hal Crafton.

The deal is financed with a 10-year loan of $3.3 million from CBRE Capital Markets Inc. of Houston, Texas.

The 7.4-acre development previously was tied to an April 2007 mortgage of $3 million originated by Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

The location was acquired for $300,000 in January 1999 from Capitol Development of Arkansas Inc., led by Michael Todd.

Apartment Land
The site of a future apartment project near the Arkansas River in North Little Rock weighed in at $1.75 million.

Arkopolis Properties LLC, led by Blake Jackson, bought 39.5 acres along River Road east of Paul Duke Drive. The seller is Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Co., led by Brian McGeorge.

The deal is funded with a one-year loan of $1.7 million from First Security Bank of Searcy.

The property was purchased for $170,000 in January 1974 from the Ben M. Hogan Co.

Automotive Transaction
A used car dealership in Sherwood changed hands in a $1.47 million transaction.

I-40 RV Exchange Holdings LLC, led by Jim Pender, acquired the Evans Motors project at 6701 Warden Road.

The seller is Evans Properties, led by Paul, Darrell and Ralph Evans. The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $1.1 million from Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.

The 4.88-acre development previously was linked with a February 2006 mortgage of $397,500 and an October 2004 mortgage of $660,000 held by Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff.

The property was assembled in three deals with Southern Glass & Mirror Co., led by Charles King, $292,000 in May 2001; PR Properties LLC, led by Paul Minton, $150,000 in January 2002; and Kiehl Holiday Properties Inc., led by Byron McKimmey, $398,000 in March 2006.

Warehouse Sale
A 21,630-SF warehouse in North Little Rock sold for $800,000.

CLD Holdings LLC, led by Kevin Copeland, Larry Young and David Taylor, purchased the Discount Auto Glass project at 4119 Richards Road. The seller is Yes Dear LLC, led by Dale Dues and John Smotrilla.

The deal is financed with a five-year loan of $808,128 from Arvest Bank. The 1.59-acre development previously was tied to a January 2005 mortgage of $960,000 held by North Little Rock’s National Bank of Arkansas.

Yes Dear acquired the property for $960,000 more than 12 years ago from Jacksonville Double R LLC, led by Bradley Blakeway and James W. Rodgers.

Commercial Combo
A 10,302-SF convenience store-retail combo in southwest Little Rock is under new ownership after a $750,000 transaction.

Mustafa Al Maqaleh bought the 13420 Otter Creek Parkway project from E-Z Mart Stores Inc. of Texarkana, Texas.

E-Z Mart Stores purchased the 1.15-acre development for $713,000 in April 2013 from Greatstone Equities Inc. of Dallas.

Multifamily Buy
A 24-unit apartment project in Little Rock rang up a $718,000 sale.

Cozywood Apartments LLC of Toquerville, Utah, acquired the 2301 Scott St. project from Scott Street Apartments LLC, led by Jason Bolden.

The deal is funded with a $592,000 loan from Central Bank of Little Rock.

The 0.99-acre development previously was linked with a December 2012 mortgage of $480,000 held by the bank.

The property was bought for $425,000 more than five years ago from Scott Street Townhouses LLC, led by Ralph Cotham and Mark Reynolds.

Chenal Manor
A 9,326-SF home in west Little Rock’s Chenal Downs neighborhood tipped the scales at $1.75 million.

Rowan Development LLC, led by Jasen Chi, purchased the house from Steve Landers Jr. and his wife, Karmen.

The deal is backed with an 18-month loan of $1.8 million from Southern Bancorp Bank of Arkadelphia.

The residence previously was tied to a December 2011 mortgage of $1.5 million held by Simmons Bank.

The location was acquired for $183,000 in June 2005 from Rick Ferguson Inc.

Greathouse Home
A 3,244-SF home in the Greathouse Bend Estates neighborhood in Pulaski County drew an $835,000 transaction.

Andrew Rogers acquired the house from David and Brandy Hubener. The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $424,100 from One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

The residence previously was linked with an October 2006 mortgage of $103,000 held by One Bank and a June 2015 mortgage of $377,035 held by Carroll Mortgage Group Inc. of Little Rock.

The Hubeners purchased the location for $160,000 in June 2005 from Kenneth and Patricia Hastings.

Club House I
A 3,500-SF home near the Country Club of Little Rock changed hands in an $825,000 deal.

Jennifer Dalton bought the house from Davis Fitzhugh. The deal is funded with a one-year loan of $829,528 from First Security Bank.

The property was acquired for $88,000 in September 1988 from Vann Smith.

Prospect Abode
A 3,356-SF home in Little Rock’s Prospect Terrace neighborhood sold for $685,000.

John and Kristin Clark purchased the house from Andrew Rogers. The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $511,000 from Ark-La-Tex Financial Services LLC of Plano, Texas.

The residence previously was tied to a July 2012 mortgage of $407,000 held by United Wholesale Mortgage of Birmingham, Michigan.

The property was bought for $610,000 in March 2007 from The Furrer Living Trust, led by Rachel Furrer.

PV Residence
A 3,904-SF home in west Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood is under new ownership after a $530,000 transaction.

Brock Whisenhunt Jr. acquired the house from the Lorraine Funk Hannah Revocable Trust. The deal is financed with a 15-year loan of $424,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.

The Hannah family purchased the site for $11,000 in May 1971 from Pleasant Valley Inc.

Club House II
A 2,169-SF home near the Country Club of Little Rock rang up a $500,000 sale. Nathan and Lauren Steel bought the house from John and Kristin Clark.

The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $400,000 from Eagle Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

The residence previously was linked with a July 2011 mortgage of $324,400 held by Moore Mortgage Inc. of Little Rock.

The Clarks acquired the property for $406,000 nearly six years ago from Eric and Misty Fox.

Multimillion-Dollar Construction

eStem School $19,800,030
400 Shall Ave., Little Rock
Eco Construction Inc., Little Rock

50 Apartments $3,200,000
Ascent at Aldersgate
1310 Aldersgate Road, Little Rock
Consolidated Construction Inc., Little Rock

Creek Plaza $2,030,000
11312 Bass Pro Parkway, Little Rock
VCC LLC, Little Rock

Mike Preston, the executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, and Charles Morgan, a longtime leader of the Arkansas technology industry, were the keynote speakers for the final day of the International Economic Development Council's annual Economic Future Forum at the Little Rock Marriott Hotel.

Morgan, the former CEO of Acxiom Corp. of Conway, now leads First Orion Corp. of Little Rock, a startup founded in 2008. First Orion focuses on technology that aims to stop scam phone calls. The company scans about 240 million phone calls a day, trying to root out numbers making scam calls. 

During remarks on Tuesday, Morgan said that some of the customers they work with are caught off guard by the company's Arkansas location.

Morgan said a cell phone carrier executive asked a First Orion staffer where the company was located, at which point the staffer told him Little Rock. "Oh really, come on. No, where are you really?" the executive responded.

"He literally did not believe we were located in Little Rock because he just had the idea that if you weren't on the left coast or the right coast that you couldn't do something like that," Morgan said.

Morgan said he doesn't agree with that line of thinking.

"What I discovered with Acxiom, just like I discovered at First Orion, if you can fund it and you can hire the skills or create the skills, you can build extraordinary tech companies anywhere — anywhere," he said.

First Orion has been keeping up with technology innovations, but policy and education programs have a way to go, Morgan said. 

"Every single job is going to be seriously impacted by this rush of technology," Morgan said. "All this is just saying that we're going to have big problems and if we don't recognize the impact this is going to have on us."

Preston, the executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Council, spoke after Morgan and shared some of his experiences working with Gov. Asa Hutchinson in attracting foreign investment in Arkansas.

In 2008, the ADEC opened an office in China. After nearly a decade, those efforts are starting to pay off, as companies from the Shandong province have announced plans to invest $1.7 billion dollars in Arkansas in the past 14 months, Preston said.

"As the governor alluded to, it takes time," Preston said. "We've had to be very patient. We've had to court a lot of companies, work a lot of the channels."

Preston offered advice to fellow economic development leaders in the room.

"Don't announce and walk away," he said. "Announcement is still a part of the first step, we'll call it, there's so much more that goes into it. So you announce the project, you cut the ribbon, everyone smiles and it's great. You got a lot of work to do after that — it doesn't end there."

The investing companies will need help with permitting, community engagement, taxes and shipping, among others things, Preston said.

WASHINGTON — Buoyed by higher stock prices, Americans' household net worth rose 1.4 percent to $94.8 trillion in the first three months of this year, a trend that could support future spending.

The Federal Reserve says that U.S. stock and mutual fund portfolios jumped $1.3 trillion in value in the January-March quarter. Home values rose $499 billion.

Total household wealth includes checking and savings accounts, and subtracts mortgages and other debt. Unlike some other economic measures, household wealth has fully recovered from the Great Recession and gone far beyond pre-recession levels.

U.S. household net worth stood at $66.5 trillion at the end of 2007, when the downturn began. It fell to $56 trillion in 2008 before slowly recovering. The figures aren't adjusted for inflation.

(All contents © copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WASHINGTON — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week, as the benchmark 30-year rate declined for the fourth straight week to its lowest level in nearly seven months.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate home loans dropped to 3.89 percent from 3.94 percent last week. The rate stood at 3.60 percent a year ago and averaged 3.65 percent in 2016, the lowest level in records dating to 1971.

The rate on 15-year mortgages eased to 3.16 percent from 3.19 percent.

Mortgage rates often track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Prices for the key bond rose last week, pushing down its yield. The yield was at 2.18 percent Wednesday, down from 2.21 percent a week earlier. It rose back to 2.21 percent Thursday morning.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for a 30-year mortgage was unchanged this week at 0.5 point. The fee on 15-year loans also head steady at 0.5 point.

Rates on adjustable five-year loans remained at 3.11 percent. The fee rose to 0.5 point from 0.4 point.

(All contents © copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WASHINGTON — Emboldened by a business-friendly president, Republicans in Congress have set a goal that is nothing if not ambitious: To undo the stricter banking rules that took effect after the devastating 2008 financial crisis.

A vote Thursday to approve the bill in the House is essentially assured. The landscape is far different in the Senate, where Democrats have the votes to block it.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank law imposed the stiffest restrictions on big financial companies since the Great Depression. It curbed many banking practices and expanded consumer protections to restrain reckless practices and prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown.

The House bill, pushed by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who leads the Financial Services Committee, would repeal about 40 of Dodd-Frank's provisions. Notably, it would sharply diminish the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which oversees the practices of companies that provide products and services from credit cards and payday loans to mortgages and debt collection.

President Donald Trump launched his attack on Dodd-Frank after taking office, ordering a Treasury Department review of the complex rules that have put the legislation into practice. Trump called the law a "disaster" whose restrictions have crimped lending, hiring and the overall economy.

One part of Treasury's review is expected to be released soon. It could provide a blueprint for regulators to rewrite the rules. But Congress' legislation would be needed to actually revamp the law.

Unwinding a complex law that clocks in at 2,300 pages takes its own hefty bill: The Republicans' Financial Choice Act, as it's called, runs 580 pages. Here's a look at key changes it would make:

BANK REGULATION

Under the House bill, banks could qualify for regulatory relief if they held enough capital to cover potential big losses — a 10-1 ratio of capital over borrowed money. In exchange, such banks would gain exemptions or eased requirements for "stress tests" to assess their ability to withstand a downturn and for their plans to reshape themselves if they failed.

During the crisis, the government intervened to rescue the largest banks from collapse and saved some faltering institutions with bailouts and emergency loans or helped sell them to other banks. Trillions of taxpayer dollars were put at risk.

To avoid endangering taxpayers again, Dodd-Frank authorized regulators to dismantle a failing big firm, if they felt its collapse could endanger the entire system, and sell off the pieces. The Treasury would pay the firm's obligations and be repaid with industry fees and money raised from shareholders, bondholders and asset sales.

Critics argue that that means taxpayers could still end up on the hook. The new legislation would eliminate the regulators' power to dismantle firms.

VOLCKER RULE

This rule, which bars the biggest banks from trading for their own profit, would be repealed. The idea behind the rule was to prevent high-risk trading bets that could imperil federally insured deposits. Some banks argue that the Volcker Rule stifles legitimate trading on behalf of customers and the banks' ability to hedge against risk.

Republicans have stressed the need for regulatory relief from Dodd-Frank for community banks. And in a fairly rare area of bipartisan agreement, some Democratic lawmakers have indicated support for this, at least in theory.

The legislation would exempt smaller banks from a number of Dodd-Frank requirements. Banks with under $10 billion in assets, for example, would have to run "stress tests"— gauging their ability to withstand a severe economic downturn — just once a year instead of twice.

CONSUMER WATCHDOG AGENCY

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was empowered by Dodd-Frank to scrutinize the practices of virtually any business that sells financial products and services, including for-profit colleges, auto lenders and money-transfer agents.

The legislation would reduce those powers. And it would let the U.S. president remove the CFPB director at will without citing a cause for firing. That's the subject of a battle now in federal court. No longer would the CFPB have a guaranteed funding stream from the Federal Reserve. Instead, it would depend on Congress for its funding just as most federal agencies do. The agency would also lose its authority to write rules, like those governing mortgages.

The bill's targeting of the CFPB especially rankles Democrats and consumer advocates. The agency has, among other things, conducted investigations across the spectrum of financial products and opened a database for consumers to lodge complaints against companies. As a result of its enforcement actions, the CFPB says it has recovered nearly $12 billion that it returned to 27 million consumers harmed by illegal practices.

REINING IN REGULATORS

Dodd-Frank established a Financial Stability Oversight Council of top regulators, led by the Treasury secretary, of top regulators to monitor the financial system and identify potential threats.

The council also has authority to review nonbank financial firms, like insurance companies, to determine whether they're so large and interconnected that their failure would threaten the entire system. Once the council deems a company "systemically important," it becomes subject to stricter rules. Its use of borrowed money is limited. And it must submit to close supervision by the Federal Reserve and make more detailed disclosures.

The new legislation would strip the council of its authority to designate financial firms as systemically important and would make its funding subject to Congress' budget process.

RETIREMENT INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDER POWER

The legislation would repeal the Obama-era Labor Department's so-called fiduciary rule. The rule tightened requirements for professionals who advise retirement savers. Wall Street and Republicans have been pushing against the rule, which compels financial pros who charge commissions to put their clients' best interests first in advising them on retirement investments.

The legislation also targets the frequency of "Say on Pay" shareholder votes on executive compensation as established by Dodd-Frank. Rather than hold a nonbinding vote at least once every three years, the legislation would allow it only when executives' compensation has changed "materially" from the previous year.

Shareholders with relatively small portions of company stock would find it harder to bring proposals to a vote by all shareholders. Individuals or groups of investors would have to own at least 1 percent of a company's stock for at least three years to put a proposal on the company proxy ballot. That compares with the current requirement of $2,000 worth of stock for one year.

(All contents © copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House has moved closer to fulfilling President Donald Trump's goal of doing "a big number" on Dodd-Frank, the landmark banking law created after the 2008 economic crisis that was designed to prevent future meltdowns.

But the effort will likely require some major changes to bring about Democratic support in the Senate. Such support was missing entirely when the House voted 233-186 Thursday for a bill that would undo much of Dodd-Frank. House Republicans recognize the uphill climb, but were happy to chalk up a victory.

"Our families, small businesses and communities have been desperate for this change for years," said Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority whip.

House passage was widely expected. Senators have said they'll spend the next few months trying to find common ground on legislation designed to boost the economy. Potential areas for compromise include changes to how much capital banks must maintain and decreasing the paperwork burden for small lenders.

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California urged senators not to take up the House bill.

"They are setting the stage for Wall Street to run amok and cause another financial crisis," Waters said.

The overhaul bill targets the heart of the Dodd-Frank law's restrictions on banks by offering a trade-off: Banks could qualify for most of the regulatory relief in the bill so long as they meet a strict requirement for building capital to cover unexpected big losses.

Democrats defended the Dodd-Frank law, saying it has meant financial security for millions of people and that undoing it would encourage the kind of risky lending practices that invite future economic shocks.

They also oppose efforts to sharply curtail a consumer protection agency's power to pursue companies that it determines have participated in unfair or deceptive practices in their financial products and services. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has returned $29 billion to 12 million consumers who were victims of deceptive marketing, discriminatory lending or other financial wrongdoing.

"All we're doing is spending our time taking away protections for the American people and their futures. Have we learned nothing?" asked Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

Several Democratic lawmakers insisted they were willing to make some changes to Dodd-Frank, but that the Republican bill went much too far.

"The bottom line is we put an end to the Wild West of Wall Street, and were on a nice, steady playing field," said Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass. "We should be able to adjust it, but we should not throw it out."

The bill would repeal a rule that bans banks from engaging in trading for their own profit using federally insured deposits, or forming certain relationships with private equity funds. It would roll back a proposed rule that investment advisers who collect commissions must put their clients' interests ahead of their own.

Also, financial regulators would lose the power to dismantle a failing financial firm and sell off the pieces if they decided its collapse could endanger the system. Instead, the bill would let banks fall under an expanded part of bankruptcy law.

The overhaul of Dodd-Frank was crafted by Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Hensarling said that consumers have suffered as a result of Dodd-Frank.

"We see free checking cut in half at banks. Bank fees are up. The ranks of the unbanked have increased," he said. "For many credit-worthy borrowers, they are paying $500 more for an auto loan. Have you tried getting a mortgage recently? They're harder to come by and they cost hundreds of dollars more to close."

Trump started his attack on Dodd-Frank soon after taking office, ordering a Treasury Department review of the complex rules that have put the legislation into practice.

One part of that review is expected to be released soon. It could provide a blueprint for regulators to rewrite the rules. But it would take legislation to revamp the law — and that's far from a certain prospect.

The American Bankers Association applauded the House vote, saying the bill would "fix financial rules that are holding back the U.S. economy, and doing little to enhance safety and soundness." Consumers Union criticized the vote and called on the Senate to "reject this rollback of critical consumer protections." AARP also was among groups opposing the bill.

The Federal Reserve has described the U.S. banking system as much more robust and resilient than it was before the financial crisis. Stronger capital requirements have improved banks' capacity to absorb economic shocks. But in the push to overhaul Dodd-Frank, Republicans said the biggest banks have only gotten bigger while local banks and credit unions are dwindling.

Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina was the only Republican to vote against the bill.

(All contents © copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The federal Change in Bank Control Act may be the most often overlooked — and one of the most often violated — of all banking regulations. Inadvertent violations have grown more common given the increase in estate planning-related stock transfers by shareholders planning the next generation of ownership.

Complex ownership structures often make it difficult to determine whether a filing is required. A review of the act's basic requirements suggests some steps to avoid problems.

CIBC Act Requirements

The act requires an application to be submitted to an institution's primary federal bank regulator at least 60 days before any person acquiring "control" of a state or national bank or bank holding company. Control refers to the acquisition of 25 percent or more of the outstanding shares of any class of voting securities of the bank or holding company. Applications for a bank holding company or state member bank are submitted to the Federal Reserve, while the  Comptroller of the Currency approves applications for national banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. handles applications for insured state nonmember banks.

The CIBC Act applies to acquisitions by any "person," which includes individuals, trusts and other entities. An acquisition of control may occur from a direct purchase of shares or indirectly, such as by an increase in a shareholder's ownership percentage resulting from the redemption of shares owned by another shareholder.

Where an acquirer is "acting in concert" with others, the parties will be viewed as a single group making the acquisition, and their ownership will be aggregated to determine whether prior approval is required. This determination most commonly involves a purchasing group acting as part of a coordinated acquisition transaction.

Presumptions

For privately held institutions, a person is presumed to  control the bank or holding company if, after the acquisition, he or she will own or control 10 percent or more of any class of voting securities of the company and be the largest single shareholder. For public companies, presumption of control applies when a shareholder reaches a 10 percent threshold.

An individual and his or her immediate family members are presumed to be acting in concert in any acquisition. The definition of immediate family is broad, including in-laws and step relatives. If a family's aggregate ownership exceeds that of any other single shareholder of the company, then the family group itself must file a CIBC Act application. Where a family group includes trusts, each trustee is treated as controlling all shares owned by the trust.

Application Requirements

The act requires the acquiring person or group to submit an application  to the applicable federal regulator including a general description of the transaction, pre- and post-transaction ownership percentages, terms of the acquisition and  financing, and copies of relevant transaction documents. Any member of the group that will own 2 percent or more of the bank's shares after the transaction may be required to submit an Interagency Biographical & Financial Report and submit to a background check.

While regulators can impose penalties for violations of the act, most inadvertent violations are corrected by submission of a late application. These accidental violations are often caught when a holding company seeks to acquire another bank. Although they can generally be remedied without much heartache, they may prove costly in delaying a planned acquisition.

What to Do 

• Organizations should review shareholder lists at least quarterly to ensure that any changes will not require a CIBC application. The Federal Reserve, in its review of a proposed acquisition, will typically compare the current shareholder list to prior Fed filings. Any changes within a control group may require a late application.
• Companies should ensure that their shareholders agreements restrict transfers that require federal or state approval. Language should state that any proposed transfer is void without a required pre-transfer approval. While this does not eliminate the the application process hassle, it puts the company in a better position with regulators by showing that it is taking steps to police compliance. Shareholders agreements should also require prior notice of a proposed transfer to the institution's board of directors. 
• The shareholder list and any regulatory issues or application requirements should be discussed with regulatory contacts before the transfer.

(Robert T. Smith is a partner in the Little Rock office of Friday Eldredge & Clark. Email him at RSmith@FridayFirm.com.)

The Simmons First National Corp. board of directors on Thursday declared a regular $0.25 per share quarterly cash dividend payable July 3, to shareholders of record June 15.

This dividend represents a 1-cent per share, or 4.2 percent, increase above the dividend paid for the same period last year.

Simmons First National Corp. is a financial holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff.

On April 19, the company reported first-quarter net income of $22.1 million, down 6 percent from the same quarter last year.

Nearly seven years ago, Lex Golden began leveraging up with debt in hopes of riding out a financial storm of his own making. Instead of saving Allied Bank from the ruinous meltdown of a radio-active loan portfolio he built, the Little Rock banker rode the same downward spiral to insolvency. Now, Golden and his remaining business interests are in bankruptcy court to salvage what can be salvaged.

As part of this financial reckoning, Golden has sold jewelry and gemstones to generate cash and bartered with antique furniture to pay legal bills and other debts.

Despite circumstances that have left creditors big and small unpaid, Golden is trying to  hold on to his extensive wine collection while trying unsuccessfully to negotiate six-figure employment contracts for him-self and his son.

Golden steered Allcorp Inc., the parent company of Community State Bank of Bradley (Lafayette County), into bankruptcy court to stave off creditors 11 months ago. A deal to sell his family's 87.3 percent stake in the smallest bank in Arkansas evaporated last month.

The proposed transaction would have paid the Golden family $751,000 plus temporary employment for Golden, chairman and CEO of Allcorp, and his son, Alex, president of Allcorp.

The elder Golden would have received a two-year consulting agreement that paid $10,000 a month.

Alex Golden would have received a one-year employment contract that paid a $100,000 salary, health insurance benefits and a $400 monthly automobile allowance plus a two-year consulting contract worth $6,500 monthly.

Lex and Alex Golden each own 39.28 percent of the $15.5 million-asset bank through Allcorp. The proposed sale also encompassed the shares owned by the trusts for the children of Alex Golden and his sister, Amy McCay, which hold 4.37 percent each.

The deal was called off be-fore it was even submitted for regulatory review. One prospective Community State Bank investor believes the transaction was destined for rejection.

"Lex seemed to think they could get regulators to approve the deal," said the source, who requested anonymity. "But that just wasn't going to happen.

"Any deal we do is going to be good for everyone. We don't do special deals. We'll be watching to see what transpires."

Allcorp's prime creditor, Heartland Bank of Little Rock, wasn't willing to discount the nearly $1.3 million debt to accommodate the planned sale either, according to Lex Golden.

Heartland advocates the sale of Community State Bank since the struggling bank can't produce sufficient dividends for Allcorp to repay the delinquent loan.

Riverside Bank of Sparkman also has two loans totaling more than $527,000 secured by the Allcorp stock owned by Lex and Alex Golden. 

Wine & Trips to France

Lex Golden followed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of All-corp with a Chapter 7 bank-ruptcy of his own in February. He and his wife, Ellen, listed total assets of $1.9 million and total liabilities of $7.7 million.

Among the bones of contention in the personal bankruptcy is his position that his wine collection is a non-transferrable asset. Maybe it's 500-1,000 bottles, and maybe it's worth $10,000-$25,000, according to Golden.

At a May 26 creditors meeting, bankruptcy trustee Hamilton Mitchell asked Golden to refrain from consuming, disposing or transferring any of the wine.

"Do you agree to comply with that, Mr. Golden?" Mitchell asked.

Golden balked at the question while noting that opening a bottle a wine for him was "like opening a can of green beans."

Pressed for a yes or no, Golden said, "I'm dumbfounded. I don't know how to answer."

The wine collection and spending money on trips to France in the months preceding bankruptcy were topics of interest for a leading creditor, Chambers Bank of Danville.

"You don't have a list of the bottles of wine you own, I assume?" asked John Riedel, the bank's attorney, at an April creditors meeting.

"No," said Golden.

At another point, an incredulous Riedel asked, "You don't remember how many times you left the country during the past 12 months?" 

According to their bankruptcy filings, the Goldens gave Elka Halliger two diamond rings to settle a debt of nearly $32,000 on Nov. 17 during one of their trips to Paris.

Halliger rented the Goldens a Paris apartment for 20 years related to his wife's French antiques business, according to Lex Golden. That venture is included in their bankruptcy.

"I leave all the financial things to Lex," Ellen Golden said at the May creditor's meeting. "He handles the money."

On Jan. 18, 2017, other unspecified jewelry was sold to Little Rock's Braswell & Son Pawnbrokers for $6,220 to pay bills.

On Aug. 29, four un-specified gems were sold to Wilkerson Jewelers of Stuttgart for $56,680. According to Lex Golden, the money was de-posited in the operations of Terry's Finer Foods.

Ten months ahead  of closing Terry's in February, the Goldens took on more than $200,000 of new debt linked with the grocery store that became unsecured debt in their bankruptcy.

Also among their creditors is the Gene Lewellen Sr. estate, owed $286,272 from the 2009 sale of Terry's.

"My father made a lot of phone calls towards the end of his life trying to get it all straightened out," said Jeff Lewellen, son of the late Gene Lewellen. "My mom and dad were owed money, and they should get it. We're just trying to keep our fingers crossed."

The Lewellen debt is among more than $4 million of unsecured debt listed by the Goldens in their Chapter 7 petition. 

Bankruptcy Path of Allcorp and Lex & Ellen Golden

2010

Sept. 1: Allcorp Inc. borrows $2.1 million from Heartland Bank of Little Rock to buy Community State Bancshares Inc., parent company of Community State Bank of Bradley. The loan is secured by the bank's 10,000 shares of outstanding stock.

2016

April 25: With the Allcorp loan in default, Heartland Bank sends notice of its intent to sell the stock at a public sale on June 24. The notice is sent to Lex Golden, chairman and CEO of Allcorp, who personally guaranteed the loan.

June 23: The sale is canceled when Heartland enters into a forbearance agreement with Allcorp and Golden.

July 5: A public sale of the bank stock is rescheduled for July 28 after Allcorp and Golden fail to meet the obligations of the forbearance agreement.

July 15: Chambers Bank of Danville lands a $2 million summary judgment in Yell County Circuit Court against Lex Golden and his wife, Ellen. The judgment is tied to a September 2010 loan to Acme Holding Co., the bankrupt holding company of Allied Bank in Mulberry.

The delinquent loan, used to help recapitalize the struggling bank, was personally guaranteed by the Goldens; the Golden family owned most of Allied Bank through Acme Holding Co. In addition to the Golden family's interest in Allied, the debt is secured by a $5 million Sun Life Financial life insurance policy on Lex Golden with annual premiums of $63,645.

July 27: Allcorp files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In later filings, Allcorp claims assets of nearly $3 million and liabilities of about $1.3 million. The assets reflect Allcorp's valuation of Community State Bank. The liabilities reflect debt owed to Heartland.

Sept. 23: The $66.3 million-asset Allied Bank is taken over by regulators and sold to Today's Bank of Huntsville for a negative bid of $6.14 million. 

2017

Jan. 19: The $15.5 million-asset Community State Bank enters into a memorandum of understanding with the Arkansas State Bank Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Jan. 27: A would-be deal is struck to sell the Golden family's 87.3 percent stake in Community State Bank for $751,000. The prospective buyers of the Allcorp stock are listed as three Dallas trusts associated with Eric Donnelly, chief financial officer of Capital Plus; Chad Vose, president of Harbor Portfolio Advisors; and Farzana Giga, CFO of Harbor Portfolio Advisors.

Feb. 9: Chambers Bank acquires the $5 million life insurance policy on Lex Golden from the bankruptcy estate of Acme Holding for $12,000. The bank paid more than $60,000 in premiums to keep the policy in force after Acme entered bankruptcy in April 2014. A Chambers affiliate also holds a delinquent $1.5 million loan that was personally guaranteed by Lex Golden. Chambers Bank held an additional $2.5 million of debt associated with a loan to Acme Holding.

Feb. 24: The Goldens close Terry's Finer Foods one step ahead of eviction. The landmark Heights neighborhood grocery store at 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd. had been purchased in January 2009 from Gene Lewellen Sr.

Feb. 27: Lex and Ellen Golden file Chapter 7 bankruptcy claiming total assets of $1.9 million and total liabilities of $7.7 million. Among the creditors is the Gene Lewellen Sr. estate, owed more $286,272 from the sale of Terry's.

May 23: Heartland asks for court approval to sell the Community State Bank stock or convert the case to Chapter 7 liquidation. The bank proposes hiring DD&F Consulting Group to market the stock to a third-party buyer. The Little Rock firm would be paid a $10,000 retainer to cover hourly billing plus a $50,000 "success fee" if a sale is completed.

Allcorp files a plan to restructure the Heartland debt, essentially converting it to an interest-only, five-year loan bearing an interest rate of 3.25 percent amortized over 20 years with a balloon payment of $1.1 million.

Among its sticking points, the plan hinges on regulatory approval for the bank to pay dividends to Allcorp, something currently restricted.

The reorganization plan also proposes that the sale of any real estate or personal property of Allcorp be paid out: 45 percent to Heartland; 45 percent as dividends to shareholders; and 10 percent retained for discretionary use by Allcorp.

May 28: During a creditor's hearing, Lex Golden discloses that the prospective buyers of his family's Allcorp stock canceled the deal by email on May 27.

Trying to protect your privacy by restricting your internet use is like trying "to opt out of fire," said Hank Bates, a partner in the Little Rock law firm Carney Bates & Pulliam.

The internet as a tool of modern life is now so pervasive — and so essential — that avoiding it is next to impossible.

But almost every digital act performed by consumers involves sharing private data, and consumers may not always fully understand their level of exposure.

In the past four years or so, Carney Bates has focused on legal issues surrounding data security and privacy. Among the high-profile cases it has been a party to are class-action lawsuits against Facebook and Google and cases involving Home Depot, Target and Sony.

Data privacy cases now comprise about 40 percent of Carney Bates' business, said partner Allen Carney.

The firm focuses on three distinct areas of data security, Bates said.

There are data breach cases, when a third party takes data from a company "and therefore the claim is that the company didn't protect your data," he said. The subsequent litigation is "about the company — the defendant — not properly protecting that data." The Home Depot, Target and Sony cases illustrate that area.

Carney Bates & Pulliam has represented financial institutions in several of these data breach cases.

Banks often take the first hit when a retailer's customer data is compromised.

Retailer data breaches harm banks in several ways, Bates said. Reissuing payment or credit cards is "a huge out-of-pocket cost," he said.

Banks also sustain a "huge goodwill hit," because of the inconvenience customers experience when forced to change their payment information. And if financial institutions fail to cancel cards quickly enough after a data breach, they find themselves covering fraud losses.

Data privacy is the second area. These cases, Bates said, are "about the actions of the defendant affirmatively doing something with your data that they weren't transparent about." The Facebook and Google cases illustrate that area.

Although people call that area "data privacy," he said, "I think of it more as ‘data autonomy' because ‘data privacy' makes a lot of people think it's about the company having some sort of [perverse] interest in what you're doing."

But that's not the central issue, Bates said. 

"It's really about autonomy and power, that you control what information people have about you," he said. "When people get information about you and then gather a lot of information about you, they get to a point where they may know you better than you know yourself. And then they start influencing you in ways that you aren't even aware of.

"We see that through changes to people's Facebook feeds, the news you get, the type of advertising you get. And that, over time, gives them power to change you. You lose personal autonomy, and, of course, that can get worse and worse and worse."

In addition, Bates added, "it leads to a concentration of power, so that you get an imbalance of power among certain companies that are getting very, very powerful."

The third area of data security is the marketing of protection from data breaches and theft. In January 2015, the Carney Bates firm brought a class-action case against LifeLock Inc. of Tempe, Arizona, an identify theft protection company, alleging deceptive marketing. That case, filed in federal court in the Northern District of California, was settled last year for $81 million, Bates said.

Fast and Slow

Carney Bates had always done a lot of consumer work — for example, representing credit card holders in cases alleging fraudulent billing by card issuers — and as consumer activity shifted to the internet, the law firm's focus shifted with it.

And then, Bates said, "We started taking a personal interest in the issues, just because we think it's important."

It's also "intellectually engaging and sort of fun," he said. While business and technology are moving at lightning speed, "law moves slow," Bates said. "And law has a lot of catching up to do because you've moved to a new paradigm." 

Law once applied in one context — privacy as it pertains to the mail, for example — must now be applied in a very different context.

"I think the thing that's interesting to me is the huge, unknowing loss of privacy that people suffer on the internet, on their phones," Carney said. "I think the average person does not appreciate that when they download an app on their phone to play a game, for example, that the app developer and then a group of other folks in that stream of commerce are looking at all of their contacts. They note where they are 24 hours a day by looking at their GPS location. They look at their photos. Every photo that's saved — you're giving access to those.

"I think that's what's interesting to us," he said. "Maybe we're old-fashioned privacy advocates, but the idea that you turn over all that private information to persons you don't know is troubling. And in the modern world it's almost impossible to avoid using a cellphone."

Bates agreed, offering an analogy. To not use a mobile phone, he said, is "like being a caveman and saying, ‘You know, that fire thing looks interesting, but it looks dangerous and I'm opting out.'"

And once the phone tracking begins, "then they start tracking you across devices," Bates said. "And it's all these companies you've never heard of that are tracking you on your phone and then they find ways … to track you across your mobile phone, your TV, your laptop" and, if you still have one, your desktop computer.

As people adopt "smart," internet-connected devices in their homes, that tracking will only intensify, he said.

The companies gathering this information fall into a couple of categories, Bates said. "A small subset" is very sophisticated in the information they collect and the ways in which they use it. But a much larger group is collecting the information just because they can and because it "may be worth something someday."

And those companies, Carney said, are susceptible to data breaches as well.

The internet provides enormous convenience to consumers, but, Carney said, he's not sure the average consumer realizes he's trading privacy for convenience. 

Citing cellphone use, he said, "Did you really contemplate that Verizon or AT&T could, if asked, say within 4 meters everywhere you have been … everyone you've sent an email to, every telephone call you'd made, every website you've looked at?"

Ownership of a 62,688-SF building in downtown Little Rock shifted in a transaction valued at $2.13 million.

Deep Creek LR LLC, led by Victor Pereboom of Prescott, Arizona, bought the M.M. Cohn Building at 510 Main St. The seller is Main Street Lofts LLC, led by Bryan Pereboom and Jacob Spellmeyer.

The 0.29-acre property is now tied to an $824,784 mortgage held by AMR Construction LLC of Little Rock and helps secure an October 2012 mortgage of $916,000 held by the Pulaski County Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund.

The building previously was linked with a December 2016 judgment of $896,756 held by AMR and a July 2015 mortgage of $2 million held by Riverside Bank of Sparkman.

Main Street Lofts, originally led by Scott Reed of Portland, Oregon, purchased the property in August 2012 as part of a $1.5 million deal. The seller was Lafayette Plaza LLC, led by Stephen Marks Sr.

Dollar Deal

A 12,380-SF store in Little Rock weighed in at $1.55 million.

SS Realty Ltd. of North York, Ontario, acquired the Dollar General at 7710 Col. Glenn Road from PB General Holdings (Asher) LLC, led by Leonard Boen.

The 1.56-acre development previously was linked with an April 2015 mortgage of $943,288 held by Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff. The site was bought for $258,000 in June 2010 from the Carolyn Ann Hougland Revocable Trust.

Industrial Sale I

A 56,540-SF facility in the Little Rock Port Industrial Park sold for $700,000.

Amrap Holdings LLC, led by Scott Senyard and Justin Marshall, purchased the 8423 Frazier Pike project from L&D Rentals LLC of Fort Smith. The deal is backed with a $625,000 loan from First State Bank of Lonoke and a $700,000 mortgage carried by L&D Rentals.

The 6.07-acre development was ac-quired for $269,000 in April 2013 from Leggett & Platt Inc. of Carthage, Missouri.

Industrial Sale II

A 42,260-SF industrial complex in Little Rock drew a $595,000 transaction.

Little Rock LLC of Topeka, Kansas, bought the Goldman Recycling project at 1701 E. 14th St. from Goldman & Co., led by Randy Pierce. The deal is funded with a $550,750 loan from Intrust Bank of Wichita, Kansas.

The 2.32-acre development previously was tied to May 2007 mortgages of $500,000 and $300,000 held by Bank of Little Rock. Goldman & Co. purchased the property through Paul Fenley for $432,500 in December 1978 as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Barwood Buy

A mobile home park in southwest Little Rock changed hands in a $307,000 deal. Barwood Trust, led by Tony Anthony, acquired its namesake project at 9500 Reck Road from Finest Place Inc. of Guyton, Georgia.

The deal is financed with a 15-year loan of $232,000 from Clifton and Jan-ice Williams and a 30-year mortgage of $75,000 carried by Finest Place.

The 6.93-acre property was bought for $550,000 in December 2010 from the Williams family.

Office Transaction

A 4,076-SF office building in Jacksonville rang up a $275,000 sale.

BRT Enterprises LLC, led by Mary Alice Hughes and Lisa Jo Bamburg, purchased the Access Rehab project at 1200 W. Main St. from John Zumwalt.

The deal is backed with a $275,000 mortgage carried by Zumwalt.

The 0.55-acre development was ac-quired for $217,000 in June 2010 from Thomas Bond. 

Rental Purchase

A small multifamily property in Little Rock is under new ownership after a $185,000 transaction.

Windy Point LLC, led by Mark Babbitt, bought the 101-105 Battery St. project from Little Rock Community Mental Health Center Inc.

The 0.3-acre development was purchased for $87,000 in August 1992 from the estate of Wayne Wilkins. 

Sologne Manor

A 7,086-SF home in west Little Rock's Sologne Circle neighborhood of west Little Rock's Chenal Valley development tipped the scales at $1.2 million.

Alfred and Brenda Herget acquired the house from Craig and Gretchen Farrell.

The deal is funded with a seven-year loan of $1 million from IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The residence previously was linked with a January 2015 mortgage of $765,000 held by Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.

The location was bought for $280,000 in September 2009 from Stanley Spangler.

Cliffewood Abode

A 3,048-SF home in Little Rock's Cliffewood neighborhood sold for $825,000.

Daniel and Emily Heard purchased the house from James and Allison Dowden. The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $550,000 from Wells Fargo Bank of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The residence previously was tied to a February 2017 mortgage of $581,000 held by BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi. The Dowdens acquired the property for $255,000 in July 1990 from Ellis Fagan III and his wife, Frances.

River Heights Home

A 3,722-SF home in Little Rock's River Heights neighborhood drew a $780,000 transaction. The Mehaffey Family Revocable Trust, led by Thomas and Sheila Mehaffey, bought the house from the Jennifer T. Barrett Revocable Trust.

The residence previously was linked with a March 2011 mortgage of $410,000 held by Merrill Lynch Credit Corp. of Jacksonville, Florida. The property was purchased for $570,000 in August 1999 from Saad and Naomi Taha.

PV Residence

A 4,173-SF home in west Little Rock's Pleasant Valley neighborhood changed hands in a $695,000 deal. Craig and Gretchen Farrell acquired the property from Daniel Heard.

The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $424,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage. The residence previously was tied to a June 2012 mortgage of $417,000 held by the mortgage company.

Heard bought the house for $645,000 five years ago from FTH Revocable Trust, led by Todd Hickingbotham.

Prospect House

A 2,627-SF home in Little Rock's Prospect Terrace neighborhood rang up a $639,550 sale.

Joshua and Audra Pettus purchased the house from JVRC LLC, led by Jett Ricks. The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $375,000 from Little Rock's Bank of the Ozarks.

The residence previously was linked with an August 2016 mortgage of $380,000 and a January 2017 mortgage of $83,200 held by BancorpSouth Bank.

JVRC acquired the property for $300,000 10 months ago from the estate of Charles Wooten.

Deauville Place

A 4,183-SF home in the Deauville Place neighborhood of west Little Rock's Chenal Valley neighborhood is under new ownership after a $540,000 transaction.

Pamela Mobley bought the house from Manish Raj. The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $424,100 from Caliber Home Loans Inc. of Irving, Texas.

The residence previously was tied to a July 2012 mortgage of $408,000 held by One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

Raj purchased the property for $510,000 nearly five years ago from Amy and Brian Eble.

Oaks Abode

A 3,278-SF home in The Oaks neighborhood of west Little Rock's Chenal Valley development sold for $500,000.

Allen Bradley and Judith Garrett ac-quired the house from Tanya Toney.
The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $400,000 from Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

The residence was bought for $529,000 in March 2006 from Jimmy and June Wilson.

He's been a spokesman for Simmons Bank and the voice of the Ouachita Baptist Tigers. He wrote the first full-length biography of Hillary Clinton and practically wrote the book on Southern barbecue. He reported on political campaigns and ran them, infuriated politicians and worked for them, and covered everything from White House summits to Little League baseball games.

Rex Nelson once even edited the publication you're reading now.

He has played enough roles in Arkansas journalism, broadcasting, business and politics to become all but a household name. And at age 57, Nelson is "home again," doing what he likes best.

"That's traveling around and writing about Arkansas," Nelson said as he gave up his well-paying post as a senior vice president at Simmons First National Corp. a couple of weeks ago. Now he'll be patrolling the state in a Chevy Equinox and writing three columns a week for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. His title is senior editor, and he'll be a public face of the newspaper, speaking to civic groups around the state and flexing his expertise on Arkansas history and culture.

So will the paper pay him on the same scale as Simmons did?

"I'm doing this because it's what I want to do," he told Arkansas Business. "Let's just put it that way."

Nelson was already writing once a week for the Democrat-Gazette's op-ed page, as well as working for Simmons and tending to his blog, Rex Nelson's Southern Fried. The multitasking comes naturally. Nelson worked full time as sports editor of the Daily Siftings Herald in Arkadelphia while studying at Ouachita Baptist University and serving as the sports director at two radio stations. Except for a few years when he was in Washington, he has announced OBU football games on radio since his student days, a total of 35 years.

"The newspaper world has intrigued me since childhood, and it calls again."

When I met Nelson, I was a 19-year-old sportswriter and he was a role model: a keen observer and writer chafing against the kind of reverential coverage the Arkansas Razorbacks got from Arkansas Gazette sports editor Orville Henry. Henry was beloved for covering the Hogs thoroughly since World War II, but rah-rah sports writing was waning by the early 1980s. 

Nelson joked about Henry's thousands of words, largely chronological, on every Hog football game. "Here's the lead of an Orville Henry game story," he jibed: "The wind was out of the west at 10 miles per hour and the Razorbacks won the toss."

A play-by-play of Nelson's career would take too long, but here are highlights: Nelson was an assistant sports editor at the Democrat, then left the editorship of Arkansas Business to be the Democrat's political editor during Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and first term. He wrote "The Hillary Factor," published in 1993, as the first full-length biography of the future secretary of state.

From 1996 to 2009 Nelson worked for former Gov. Mike Huckabee in policy and communication and was a George W. Bush appointee to the Delta Regional Authority. More recently, he led Arkansas' Independent Colleges & Universities and was a government relations chief for The Communications Group.

"It all prepared me for this," said Nelson, who said the job evolved over several talks with Democrat-Gazette Publisher Walter Hussman Jr., who sees the move as good for a paper that has reluctantly pruned its staff in a lean era for the publishing industry.

Hussman told Arkansas Business that a good local columnist is a treasure, "and Rex is excellent. It is good to have unique content that no one else has, and [Nelson's column] offers more value for our subscribers." The column runs Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Nelson is following in the tradition of the old Arkansas Traveler column, though he didn't revive the name. Established by the late Ernie Deane in the Gazette in the 1950s, the travelogue was a reader favorite. Charles Allbright, the last to write it, died in 2015. In between, two of the best newspaper writers the state ever produced, Mike Trimble and Bob Lancaster, roamed the state looking for stories.

Nelson's column is his own, and its logo is simply his name and picture. 

"My approach will be to try to turn out three pieces a week that most readers will be interested in," Nelson said. "I will have the freedom to write about what I want, whether it's politics, people, history or culture. I hope to tell stories about Arkansas."

The federal Change in Bank Control Act may be the most often overlooked — and one of the most often violated — of all banking regulations. Inadvertent violations have grown more common given the increase in estate planning-related stock transfers by shareholders planning the next generation of ownership.

Complex ownership structures often make it difficult to determine whether a filing is required. A review of the act's basic requirements suggests some steps to avoid problems.

CIBC Act Requirements

The act requires an application to be submitted to an institution's primary federal bank regulator at least 60 days before any person acquiring "control" of a state or national bank or bank holding company. Control refers to the acquisition of 25 percent or more of the outstanding shares of any class of voting securities of the bank or holding company. Applications for a bank holding company or state member bank are submitted to the Federal Reserve, while the  Comptroller of the Currency approves applications for national banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. handles applications for insured state nonmember banks.

The CIBC Act applies to acquisitions by any "person," which includes individuals, trusts and other entities. An acquisition of control may occur from a direct purchase of shares or indirectly, such as by an increase in a shareholder's ownership percentage resulting from the redemption of shares owned by another shareholder.

Where an acquirer is "acting in concert" with others, the parties will be viewed as a single group making the acquisition, and their ownership will be aggregated to determine whether prior approval is required. This determination most commonly involves a purchasing group acting as part of a coordinated acquisition transaction.

Presumptions

For privately held institutions, a person is presumed to  control the bank or holding company if, after the acquisition, he or she will own or control 10 percent or more of any class of voting securities of the company and be the largest single shareholder. For public companies, presumption of control applies when a shareholder reaches a 10 percent threshold.

An individual and his or her immediate family members are presumed to be acting in concert in any acquisition. The definition of immediate family is broad, including in-laws and step relatives. If a family's aggregate ownership exceeds that of any other single shareholder of the company, then the family group itself must file a CIBC Act application. Where a family group includes trusts, each trustee is treated as controlling all shares owned by the trust.

Application Requirements

The act requires the acquiring person or group to submit an application  to the applicable federal regulator including a general description of the transaction, pre- and post-transaction ownership percentages, terms of the acquisition and  financing, and copies of relevant transaction documents. Any member of the group that will own 2 percent or more of the bank's shares after the transaction may be required to submit an Interagency Biographical & Financial Report and submit to a background check.

While regulators can impose penalties for violations of the act, most inadvertent violations are corrected by submission of a late application. These accidental violations are often caught when a holding company seeks to acquire another bank. Although they can generally be remedied without much heartache, they may prove costly in delaying a planned acquisition.

What to Do 

• Organizations should review shareholder lists at least quarterly to ensure that any changes will not require a CIBC application. The Federal Reserve, in its review of a proposed acquisition, will typically compare the current shareholder list to prior Fed filings. Any changes within a control group may require a late application.
• Companies should ensure that their shareholders agreements restrict transfers that require federal or state approval. Language should state that any proposed transfer is void without a required pre-transfer approval. While this does not eliminate the the application process hassle, it puts the company in a better position with regulators by showing that it is taking steps to police compliance. Shareholders agreements should also require prior notice of a proposed transfer to the institution's board of directors. 
• The shareholder list and any regulatory issues or application requirements should be discussed with regulatory contacts before the transfer.

(Robert T. Smith is a partner in the Little Rock office of Friday Eldredge & Clark. Email him at RSmith@FridayFirm.com.)

Jennifer Shabdue has been promoted to assistant project manager at Cline Construction Group in North Little Rock. She was previously a project coordinator.

Education

Abdel Bachri has been named interim dean of the College of Science & Engineering at Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia. He is an associate professor of engineering and chair of the Department of Engineering & Engineering Physics at the university.

Financial Services

Julie Austin has joined TruService Community Federal Credit Union in Little Rock as marketing coordinator. She was previously the center manager at Sona Medspa in Little Rock.

Ashish Patel has been promoted to bank assistant examiner in information systems at the Arkansas State Bank Department in Little Rock. He was previously an information systems examiner. 

Media/Marketing

Kristin Smith has been hired at Team SI of Little Rock as a technical project manager. She previously worked at Acxiom as a project manager.

Emily Reeves Dean has joined Cranford Co. in Little Rock as director of brand and social strategy. She was formerly a communications consultant and former director of digital innovation and insight planning at Stone Ward.  

Nonprofit

Renie Prentice Rule has been named executive director of the Arkansas Hospice Foundation and vice president of development for Arkansas Hospice in North Little Rock. She was previously executive director of development for the UAMS College of Medicine in Little Rock.  

Community banks were not the cause of the 2008 housing and economic crisis. However, due to the regulatory creation of Dodd-Frank — Washington's response to the crisis — small community financial institutions have borne the brunt of its effects. They have been unfairly punished with burdensome regulations that have increased paperwork and reduced productivity and services in too many of our communities.

As a former chief executive of a locally owned community bank in Little Rock that existed before and after the implementation of Dodd-Frank, I saw firsthand how regulatory requirements for smaller financial institutions created an unreasonable burden that makes it exceptionally difficult for them to fulfill their roles in providing consumers, small businesses and entrepreneurs with competitive services and access to credit and capital.  

In Arkansas alone, the number of banks in our state has gone from over 250 in the mid 1990s to around 100 today. A large contributor to this has been the increased regulatory burden from the federal government. These institutions have historically remained well-capitalized and should never have been unfairly punished for the mistakes of the federal government and larger financial institutions.

Prior to the expansion of the federal safety net, first with the formation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913, followed by the creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) during the Great Depression, bank shareholders held substantially higher ratios of capital to assets. While there was a slight uptick during the early 1990s following the passage of the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991, over the past century, ratios of shareholder equity capital to assets for commercial banks have fallen.

Unfortunately for taxpayers, capital ratios at some of the largest financial institutions in the country remained low even after the new Prompt Corrective Action penalties and new capital expectations of the FDIC Improvement Act. For example, at the time of the 2008 housing crisis, Citicorp had a capital ratio on December 31, 2007 of only 4.03 percent for its Tier 1 leverage ratio.

The results of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 have only worsened this issue, layering more "macroprudential" regulation and more regulatory expense, while not substantially reducing the moral hazard underlying our "too big to fail" banks. In fact, some argue that the moral hazard actually has been enhanced by the institutionalization of the government-driven "too big to fail" doctrine emphasized in the Dodd-Frank Act.

The centerpiece of the House Financial Services Committee bill, known as the Financial CHOICE (Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs) Act, is a significant change in approach. To reduce the moral hazard and increase the "microprudential" attention of bank managers, boards of directors and shareholders, the Financial CHOICE Act offers a voluntary capital election.

More: Read more about the Financial CHOICE Act.

This is being termed as a "regulatory off ramp" for financial institutions with high capital. Generally, for a bank or credit union to be considered "well-capitalized" by the FDIC today, the institution must have a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 5 percent or higher. In Title VI of the Financial CHOICE Act, we double that level of capital to a Tier 1 leverage ratio equal to 10 percent or higher.  

The level of 10 percent was arrived at by reviewing bank failures over time at various levels of Tier 1 Capital. Additionally, in April 2015, FDIC Vice Chairman Tom Hoenig proposed a similar off-ramp concept and also established a 10 percent Tier 1 Capital leverage ratio as a good working number for his proposal. The House Financial Services Committee then came together to arrive at a similar aspirational number to drive up shareholder risk and drive down the moral hazard and taxpayer risk. 

This voluntary off-ramp concept is available to all banks that would avail themselves of its provisions. However, it is unlikely that the nation's largest, most complex institutions will be able to justify the dramatic increase in equity capital necessary to achieve the regulatory benefits. 

The recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the CHOICE Act confirms this, stating: "CBO expects that most of the financial institutions that chose to maintain a leverage ratio at 10 percent would be those with assets below $10 billion, commonly known as community banks." And that "the eight large banks headquartered in the United States that are characterized as globally systemic important banks (G-SIBs) would not make the election because they would have to raise much more capital."

However, for our nation's community banks and credit unions scattered across the main streets and avenues of our cities, it's our estimate that about 75 percent of these community institutions already hold Tier 1 capital at the 10 percent threshold.

By availing themselves of this voluntary mechanism, community banks will have more options when it comes to product innovation and services for small businesses, consumers, families, farmers and our entrepreneurs across the nation.

Alexander Hamilton said that banks are the "nurseries of our national wealth." Those of us on the House Financial Services Committee who worked on this bill believe that the centerpiece of our Financial CHOICE Act will encourage more equity capital to be maintained by banks, making our banks safer and therefore giving them the flexibility to serve the public in good times and bad.

(French Hill represents the 2nd Congressional District of Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives.)

The Northwest Arkansas Council named Nelson Peacock as its CEO on Tuesday.

Peacock, 47, has met with staff members at the council, a private nonprofit, and will take office in July. Peacock replaces Mike Malone, who was CEO from 2006 until he resigned last year to work for Runway Group LLC in Bentonville.

Nick Hobbs, the president of the Dedicated Contract Services at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of  Lowell, chaired the search committee that selected Peacock over six candidates who were interviewed. Hobbs said the search, aided by a search firm, was nationwide before choosing Peacock, who is the senior vice president of government relations for the University of California system.

"Nelson clearly rose to the top," Hobbs said. "We're really excited. We had the bar set high. We knew exactly what we were looking for and found the perfect individual."

Mike Harvey, the council's COO, served as interim CEO after Malone's resignation and interviewed for the CEO position. Harvey will remain with the council as COO, and Peacock opened his remarks by thanking Harvey for his assistance during the transition.

Peacock grew up in McCrory and earned a law degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He served as legal counsel for then-Sen. Joe Biden and was appointed by President Obama to lead the Office of Legislative Affairs for the Department of Homeland Security.

Peacock said his priorities as CEO will be to develop strategic communications to help tell the region's story, to expand relations between the local governments and the council and to "foster" the innovation culture of northwest Arkansas.

"There’s a lot of positive energy," Peacock said. "This is a unique opportunity."

Peacock said the region is an attractive place to work because the cities of the area have a desire to work together, as do the various companies. 

"There is a common purpose," Peacock said.