ST. LOUIS FED NAMES CHANGES TO LITTLE ROCK BRANCH BOARD
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he Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has announced the following changes to its Little Rock Branch board of directors: Vickie D. Judy, chief financial officer and vice president at America’s Car-Mart Inc. in Rogers, has been elected board chair for 2023 by the Branch board of directors. She has served on the board since 2018. Christopher B. Hegi, president and CEO of First Financial Bank in El Dorado, has been reappointed by the St. Louis Fed board of directors to a three-year term. Allison J. H. Thompson, CEO of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County, Arkansas in Pine Bluff, has been appointed by the Federal
Reserve Board of Governors to a three-year term. Also serving on the board are: Jamie J. Henry, vice president of finance, Emerging Payments at Walmart Inc. in Bentonville; Jeff Lynch, president and CEO of Eagle Bank & Trust Co. in Little Rock; Denise Thomas, CEO of World Trade Center Arkansas, University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville.; and Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp Inc. in Little Rock.
U.S. TREASURY EXPANDS
SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAM IN ARKANSAS
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he U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday (Feb. 23) approval of five additional state and territory plans for up to $339 million in funding under the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), a part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Arkansas was approved for up to $81.6 million under the plan. Guam, Rhode Island, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Wisconsin were the other states and territories with approved plans. In total, the U.S. Treasury has approved $6.6 billion under the program. The funds will reportedly be targeted at minority and women business owners. The funds in Arkansas will be used to operate seven SSBCI programs. Those programs include a capital access program, two loan participation programs, two loan guarantee programs, and two equity/venture capital (VC) programs. Arkansas allocated $15 million to a loan guarantee program and $7.5 million to a loan participation program that are each designed to reach underserved businesses, the Treasury reported. The equity/venture capital programs, allocated a
combined $46 million, will target investments of $1 million in Arkansas-based, high-growth companies raising venture capital and will capitalize seed and early-stage venture funds focused primarily on investing in Arkansas-based companies. The American Rescue Plan reauthorized and expanded SSBCI, which was originally established in 2010 to increase access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The new SSBCI has provided $10 billion to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments to increase access to capital and promote entrepreneurship, especially in traditionally underserved communities as they emerge from the pandemic.
ARKANSAS TO RECEIVE $424,000 IN CRYPTOCURRENCY SETTLEMENT
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he Arkansas Securities Department (ASD) recently issued a consent order against the cryptocurrency platform Nexo Capital Inc. (Nexo), regarding unregistered offers and sales of securities in the form of digital asset investments. Nexo, a Cayman Islands corporation established in 2018, provided crypto-asset-related financial services including investing, trading, borrowing, and lending, to retail and institutional customers in the U.S. Nexo was alleged to have failed to comply with state registration requirements and, as a result, Arkansas investors were sold unregistered securities in violation of Arkansas law and additionally were deprived of critical information and disclosures
necessary to understand the potential risks of an Earn Interest Product (EIP) program. Nexo agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle the allegations with the 53 U.S. NASAA-member jurisdictions and will pay a fine of $424,528.30 to the Arkansas Securities Department. Further, Nexo will cease offering and selling the EIP or accepting further investments in the EIP until such activities are compliant with applicable state and federal securities laws. THE ARKANSAS BANKER
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