As reported on by The Real Deal South Florida on December 3, 2021, the rollout of the federal flood insurance program’s first overhaul in half a century is frustrating buyers and brokers.

To make the program more financially sustainable, the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) has begun implementing a new pricing system, known as Risk Rating 2.0, sending some property owners in South Florida into a panic out of fear that their rates will skyrocket.  Although FEMA has said that the majority of policyholders across the country won’t see huge increases — annual hikes are capped at 18 percent, and two-thirds of policyholders will see monthly increases of $0 to $10 — those in low-lying, coastal areas are skeptical. 

“​​Because this is the government, not everything is crystal clear,” said Brian Boak, director of risk management for the property management firm AKAM. “The idea of this was to make it more transparent, and now it’s less transparent.” https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/a-rising-tide/

As reported on by the Daily Business Review on December 6, 2021, some Florida litigators are praising SB 7014, a state senate bill, as a tool to alleviate the stress frivolous lawsuits have imposed on the ability of the judiciary to decrease the case backlog. The Florida senate judiciary committee approved the Coronavirus Liability Protection Bill which focuses on businesses in the health care area. Andrew Gordon, a labor & employment litigation partner with Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in Fort Lauderdale, said the bill does a great job in balancing the protections that businesses in the health care arena need. At the same time, the bill would require those same businesses to take the coronavirus-related mitigation measures to protect both their patients and employees. https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2021/12/06/coronavirus-liability-protection-bill-among-legal-headlines-of-2022-legislative-session/

The South Florida Business Journal recently reported in November 2021 that Miami-based Intercredit Bank has added two hires to its leadership team more than a year after it was purchased by the majority owner of Ecuador’s largest private bank. Matthew Cordis has been named EVP and COO of Intercredit Bank after serving on the bank’s board of directors from 2017 to 2020. Joining the bank as SVP and residential lending officer is Annelise Ferrer, a 30-year veteran of South Florida’s mortgage banking industry. Ferrer will oversee the bank’s mortgage lending portfolio with domestic and international clients as well as contributing to the increase of the bank’s deposit portfolio.

In June 2020, Intercredit Bank was acquired by Fidel Egas Grijalva for an undisclosed amount. The Ecuadorian businessman and banker is the majority shareholder of both Banco Pichincha and Diners Club Ecuador. https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2021/11/10/intercredit-bank-names-two-executive-hires.html