Raji Sathappan

Raji Sathappan, CPA, MBA, CRCM, CAMS Managing Director with Mercadien, was featured in the October issue of the Independent Community Bankers of America’s (ICBA) Independent Banker Magazine. The article is titled, “Compliance Challenges for Commercial Lenders” by Beth Mattson-Teig, and discusses how in order to make sure your community bank’s commercial loans are compliant, it…

Mercadien is ready to assist you in facilitating the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness processing. The SBA stated that Lenders are expected to perform a good-faith review, in a reasonable time, of the borrower’s calculations and supporting documents concerning amounts eligible for loan forgiveness.  If the lender identifies errors in the borrower’s…

The Mercadien Group is pleased to announce that its affiliate company, Kingstonville-Mercadien JV, LLC, has been awarded a five-year contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide risk-based review and risk oversight support services for the Certified Development Company (CDC)/504 Loan Program, administered through the Offices of Capital Access and Credit Risk Management.…

The Mercadien Group is pleased to announce several promotions within the firm’s corporate leadership team. Ms. Raji Sathappan, CPA, MBA, CRCM, CAMS, a member of the Financial Institutions Services Group, is promoted to managing director of The Mercadien Group and principal in Mercadien, P.C., CPAs (the official titles of firm partners). Raji has been employed…

Regulatory guidance for banks has become increasingly forceful. Recent developments are making it clear that should is to be interpreted as shall. Financial institutions are working to establish compliance frameworks to meet these standards. It is critical that your organization develop a strategy for how to assess compliance with applicable guidance and enhance your enterprise…

Once again, banking compliance professionals are in full swing preparing for the new HMDA rules. This is the biggest change since the recent TRID rules that banks still are getting used to. HMDA/Regulation C remains one of the top three most-commonly cited laws/regulations by the regulatory agencies. In the years since HMDA was originally enacted,…

Banks continue to receive demand letters from attorneys claiming that their websites are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Should you be worried? In this article, we will summarize the current situation on ADA so you can decide and prepare accordingly. Purpose of the ADA The ADA prohibits discrimination and…

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)/Regulation C remains one of the top three most commonly cited laws by regulatory agencies. In 2010, Congress amended HMDA in the Dodd-Frank Act, which also transferred HMDA rule-making authority to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Dodd-Frank expanded the scope of HMDA with new data fields, including pricing information;…

The current economic environment and significant risk events over the last few years have caused companies to maintain a renewed focus on the effectiveness of risk management. Substantial amounts have been spent on risk management activities and reorganizing companies to best manage risk in line with various frameworks and models. However, many companies now feel…

The National Flood Insurance Act of 1967 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (FDPA), as amended, govern the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Among other things, these statutes require the purchase of flood insurance on certain properties and make available federally subsidized flood insurance to owners and improved real estate or mobile homes located in special…