Pub. 8 2020 Issue 2

24 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org Guest Associate Article PARTNER IN A CRISIS By Eric Jensen 2 020 has certainly been an unexpected and turbulent year. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines has proudly remained a stable and reliable source of funding for our nearly 1,350 member financial institutions, with 2020 being no exception. The bank is no stranger to crisis. In fact, the Federal Home Loan Bank System was created in 1932 during the Great Depression. We ’ ve been tested several times over our 88-year existence, and we ’ ve consistently demonstrated our ability to provide liquidity through all economic cycles. SERVING YOU DURING COVID-19 We ’ re proud of the way you have adapted your business to address the urgent needs of the communities you serve. As your trusted partner, it ’ s also been our job to make adjustments to better support you during this time. As you ’ ve implemented loan forbearance or loan modification agreements for your borrowers, we’ve made modifications to our collateral eligibility guidelines to better align with those practices. Additionally, as credit is extended on a secured basis, we ’ ve expand- ed our collateral menu. Shortly after the passing of the CARES Act, we began to accept SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans as collateral. As technology evolves (with or without the necessity of social distancing), so has the desire for borrowers to conduct transactions electronically. As a result, we are now able to accept residential mort- gage eNotes (electronic promissory notes) as collateral. For members participating in the Mortgage Partnership Finance® Program, up to 12 months of forbearance relief is available under the MPF Traditional Program. The addition of payment deferment as another viable post-forbearance repayment option for participating financial institution servicers to assist impacted borrowers. In April, we began offering special relief funding on three-month or six-month advances to help you fund your PPP loans and other short- term funding needs. These discounted advances are available until Oct. 15, 2020, or until the allocated funds are exhausted, whichever occurs first. For long-term funding needs, all members have access to $10 mil- lion in low-cost funds through our Community Investment Advances (CIA). These discounted advances are specifically designed to support small business lending, economic development and housing needs. Recently, we expanded CIA discount advance rate eligible loans to include members providing financing to PPP eligible entities, whether or not the entities are PPP participants. Like many of you, the current environment has moved some of our offices closer to home. When the decision was made in March for 90% of our employees to work from home, the transition happened seamlessly with no disruption in service to our members. As previously