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8-K - FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK OF NEW YORK - Federal Home Loan Bank of New York | form_8-k.htm |
June 2,
2020
TO:
All
Stockholders
(Addressed
Individually)
SUBJECT:
Report from the
President
A Balanced Provider and a Stable Partner
When we
developed our 2019-2021 Strategic Plan, the reality of our current
environment was unimaginable. But in our Strategic Plan, we stated
that the FHLBNY’s strategic vision is “to be a balanced
provider of liquidity to members in all operating
environments.” It is this focus on our members and our
ability to remain your reliable partner that positions us to
respond to this crisis and remain a stable source of liquidity even
in this most challenging operating environment.
But
providing liquidity is not the only way in which we have been able
to support our members amid this crisis. For example, on June 1, we
launched the 2020 Homebuyer
Dream
Program Round, with an initial installment of $3 million in
funds made available. And last month, we announced our COVID-19
Relief Program, and we have seen significant member interest in
using these tools to support the communities we all serve. This is
best reflected in our Small Business Recovery Grant
(“SBRG”) Program, a component of our overall Relief
Program that we launched on May 12 to provide working capital
through our members to small businesses across our District.
Through the SBRG Program, members are able to provide grants of up
to $10,000 to qualifying small businesses and non-profit
organizations which have suffered a significant loss of revenue
related to the pandemic. We made $5 million available through this
program, and, in less than two weeks from the launch, we had
allocated nearly all of it. In fact, we have already begun to
approve grant applications, getting this funding out through our
members to support the small businesses that comprise the fabric of
our communities. We also continue to work with our members to
accept Paycheck Protection Program 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. The FHLBNY continues to build upon its array of products
and services through the efforts of our Products, Services and
Membership Committee (“PSMC”). Most recently, the PSMC
conducted an effort to streamline the refund methodology of the
Refundable Municipal Letter of Credit product, where, effective
June 1, 2020, the refund of the unused portion of the Letter of
Credit is now based on the average balance of the underlying
secured municipal deposit account, versus the peak balance over the
term of the Letter of Credit. This enhancement can enable members
to more tightly manage collateralization, reduce expenses and
create operational ease.
Our
dependability also extends to our ability to provide a reasonable
quarterly dividend, which we did last month when we announced a
5.90 percent dividend for the first quarter of 2020. Throughout the
remainder of the year, we will continue to assess the potential
effects of changes in the environment on our financial performance
and dividend strategy. We believe that this return on our
members’ investment in our cooperative enhances member value
and reflects the strength of our franchise.
We are
also focused on maintaining our high level of member engagement,
even as we all remain in remote operating postures. Through our
Relationship Managers and Member Services Desk, our people are
always one phone call away. Our senior leadership has participated
in industry group virtual meetings and conference calls, and we
continue to meet with members to provide information on a wide
variety of topics, from the LIBOR transition to our 2020 Affordable
Housing Program funding round. We have also developed a series of
webinars to provide our members with the information and solutions
they need to navigate our current environment. Through this series,
we have covered our COVID-19 Relief Program, provided our Financial
Economist’s outlook on the economy coming out of the crisis,
hosted Darling Consulting to offer ALM strategies for the current
environment, and discussed member collateral. Recordings of these
webinars are available on our Financial
Intelligence page, and I encourage all of our members to
tune in to future sessions.
We know
that the local lender is vital in any crisis, and will be relied
upon as our communities and our economy begin to recover. We are
well-positioned to support our members in these efforts, and are
proud to serve as your trusted partner.
2020 FHLBNY Director Election Update
Our
Board of Directors is a key part of our stability, guiding our
decision-making and working with management on developing our
strategy. This is why we ask our members to take an active role in
the annual election process. This year, for the second year in a
row, we will be partnering with Survey & Ballot Systems
(“SBS”), to administer our electronic election. Later
this month, SBS will send out the first communication related to
the 2020 Director Election process – the call for Member
Director nominations and Independent Director applications. To help
ensure that your authorized voting Officer receives emails from
SBS, please be sure you add – or verify that you have
previously added – the following email address to your system
as an approved sender: noreply@directvote.net. We believe that
electronic elections – especially in this environment –
make it easier for our members to participate in this important
process.
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 about this process, please contact our general counsel,
Paul Friend, at generalcounsel@fhlbny.com.
Sincerely,
José
R. González
President
and Chief Executive Officer
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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