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| 8-K - FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK OF NEW YORK - Federal Home Loan Bank of New York | form_8-k.htm |
July 2,
2020
TO:
All
Stockholders
(Addressed
Individually)
SUBJECT:
Report from the
President
A Vital Conversation
Today,
our communities face the dual challenges of emerging and recovering
from a historic public health crisis and the resulting economic
turmoil this has created, all within the backdrop of longstanding
structural and systemic injustices that too many Americans continue
to experience. It is a difficult moment for our nation, but also an
important one. Hopefully, this is an inflection point, driven by a
vital conversation on injustice, inequity and inclusivity; a moment
when there is hope that our nation will emerge as a stronger and
more perfect union.
At the
Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, we are strengthened and
supported by our Core Values, which include fostering a
collaborative and responsive work environment, supporting diversity
and inclusion in a respectful manner across our business, and
upholding our integrity and promoting accountability. We are deeply
committed to diversity and inclusion at the FHLBNY, and we draw our
strength from our diverse workforce. And we have always taken great
pride in the impact we are able to make in the communities we
serve.
Our
communities are hurting, but as a trusted community partner, we are
positioned to help. Through our Community Investment programs, we
help families become homeowners, non-profits create affordable
housing opportunities and small businesses grow. And through the
daily access to funding we provide to our membership, we help our
members extend vital credit to every community across our District.
The loans our members make every day strengthen our
communities.
Together
with our members, our cooperative is positioned to provide
stability, and through that stability, growth. For example, members
can utilize our Community Lending Programs to gain access to a
reliable source of funding at our lowest advance rates for projects
that create housing, improve business districts and build
neighborhoods. This includes our Rural Development Advance
(“RDA”), which provides financing for economic
development projects in defined rural areas that benefit
individuals or families with incomes at 115 percent or less of the
area median income. It also includes our Urban Development Advance
(“UDA”), which provides financing for these same types
of projects in defined urban areas that benefit individuals or
families with incomes at or below 100 percent of the area median
income.
These
products support our members’ efforts to make the small
business loans that help create and retain jobs; and to create and
preserve the healthcare facilities, daycare centers, grocery stores
and other services that are vital to the stability of every
community. In fact, our members have utilized $8 billion in RDA/UDA
to provide significant funding to support community and economic
development within their communities. An active and involved local
lender makes the community they serve stronger, and stronger
communities lead to stronger local lenders. We all have a role to
play in creating a more equitable and just society. Every day, our
members help create opportunities in the communities we serve. We
are proud to support this work.
Expanding Our Support
We also
remain focused on helping our communities recover from the economic
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, as part of our overall
COVID-19 Relief Program, we launched our Small Business Recovery
Grant (“SBRG”) Program to help businesses recover from
the pandemic, reopen their doors and return to serving their
customers and communities. Within a week, we had allocated nearly
all of the initial funding. At its June meeting, our Board approved
management’s recommendation to increase our 2020 Community
Support Activities budget, allowing us to make an additional $3
million available through the SBRG Program, bringing the total
amount of grant funding available to $8 million and positioning us
to help hundreds of small businesses and non-profit organizations
as they prepare to open their doors in the coming weeks. These
organizations are the fabric of the communities we serve, and the
SBRG Program speaks to our role as a trusted community
partner.
The
additional $3 million will be available on July 6, 2020, and will
be posted on our Small Business
Recovery Grant website page. Starting on July 6,
participating members that already have a Member Acknowledgement Form on file and
have exhausted their initial batch of funds may request additional
program funds by submitting the SBRG
Batch Request Form to DisasterRecovery@fhlbny.com. Members that
have not signed up to participate in the program previously can
submit the Member Acknowledgment Form, executed by a senior
officer, along with the SBRG Batch Request Form. Should you have
any questions, please contact our team at the email above, or your
Relationship Manager at (212) 441-6700.
We also
continue to work with our members to accept Paycheck Protection
Program (“PPP”) loans as eligible collateral, helping
to alleviate some of the challenges our members may face in this
area, and making it easier to keep funding flowing into the
community. Our members have been very active in making PPP loans,
and we are positioned to support this activity, with more than $2.6
billion in PPP loans pledged as collateral as of June 30,
2020.
FHLBNY Commences 2020 Director Election Process
Our
Board of Directors helps develop the strategies and initiatives
that guide our cooperative. This year, five Directorships –
one seat representing our New Jersey members, two seats
representing our New York members and two Independent Directorships
representing the whole District – will be up for election for
four-year terms commencing on January 1, 2021.
As
previously reported, this year, we will continue to provide an
electronic format for our Director Elections, once again partnering
with Survey & Ballot Systems (“SBS”), the firm that
administered our 2019 Director Election. On June 26, all eligible
members were sent an email titled “Commencement of FHLBNY
2020 Director Election Process” from the sender
noreply@directvote.net, which contained a link to materials
regarding the elections. Eligible New Jersey and New York members
may, using the electronic Certificate of Nomination included with
the election materials, nominate one person for each of the open
Member Directorships in their respective states. Separately, the
materials indicate that those individuals interested in being
considered for nomination by the FHLBNY’s Board for the two
open Independent Directorships must first submit an Independent
Director Application Form and resume to the FHLBNY. Copies of this
Form and submission information can be found at our Corporate Governance page.
All
electronic Certificates of Nomination must be submitted, and all
emailed Independent Director Application Forms and resumes must be
received by the FHLBNY, by 5:00 p.m. ET on July 28,
2020.
Our
Board is a key part of our cooperative, and I encourage all of our
members to participate in the election process. If you have any
questions, please contact our general counsel, Paul Friend, at
generalcounsel@fhlbny.com.
The
FHLBNY’s Board consists of a talented group of dedicated
individuals that benefits from, among other things, diversity, and
we expect that this will continue in the future. As you consider
potential nominations for Member Directorships and give thought to
persons who might be interested in Independent Directorships,
please keep diversity in mind. Your participation in this
year’s Director election process is greatly appreciated, and
will help continue to keep the Board and the FHLBNY diverse and
strong, and positioned to continue to meet the needs of the
communities we proudly serve.
Sincerely,
José
R. González
President
and Chief Executive Officer
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Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995
This
report may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon our current
expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. These statements
may use forward-looking terms, such as "projected," "expects,"
"may," or their negatives or other variations on these terms. The
Bank cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements
involve risk or uncertainty and that actual results could differ
materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking
statements or could affect the extent to which a particular
objective, projection, estimate, or prediction is realized. These
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
including, but not limited to, the Risk Factors set forth in our
Annual Reports on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
filed with the SEC, as well as regulatory and accounting rule
adjustments or requirements, changes in interest rates, changes in
projected business volumes, changes in prepayment speeds on
mortgage assets, the cost of our funding, changes in our membership
profile, the withdrawal of one or more large members, competitive
pressures, shifts in demand for our products, and general economic
conditions. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
they are made, and we undertake no obligation to revise or update
publicly any forward-looking statements for any
reason.
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