Money Talk: Arvest Bank to host inaugural economic forum

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ARVEST TO HOST INAUGURAL ECONOMIC FORUM: Arvest Bank will host the Arvest Economic Forum featuring Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, and Dr. Marc Fusaro, associate professor of Economics at Arkansas Tech University. The event will begin at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 3 in the Argenta Community Theater on Main St. in North Little Rock.

The two prominent economists will discuss recent data from the Arvest Consumer Sentiment Survey and the Arkansas Tech Business Index, as well as participate in a question and answer session. Roby Brock, editor and host of Talk Business & Politics, will moderate the event.

The forum will provide data and insight into consumer sentiment in Arkansas as well as economic performance and perception. The event is free and open to the public.

FED, UALR TO HOST REGIONAL ECONOMIC BRIEFING: The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a regional economic briefing on Thursday (Nov. 6) at the Little Rock Convention Center.

Kevin Kliesen, St. Louis Fed research officer and business economist, will discuss national economic conditions and Charles Gascon, St. Louis Fed regional economist, will provide an overview of economic conditions in Arkansas. Michael Pakko, chief economist with the IEA at UALR, will provide an Arkansas economic forecast. Gregory Hamilton, director and senior research economist with the IEA at UALR, will present an update to the Little Rock Report Card.

The briefing is free, but you need to register here in advance.

SEC ADOPTS RULES TO PERMIT CROWDFUNDING: The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules to permit companies to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding, an evolving method of funding capital that has been used to raise investment money through the Internet for a variety of projects. Title III of the JOBS Act created a federal exemption under the securities laws so that this type of funding method can be used to offer and sell securities.

The final rules, Regulation Crowdfunding, permit individuals to invest in securities-based crowdfunding transactions subject to certain investment limits. The rules also limit the amount of money an issuer can raise using the crowdfunding exemption, impose disclosure requirements on issuers for certain information about their business and securities offering, and create a regulatory framework for the broker-dealers and funding portals that facilitate the crowdfunding transactions.

The new crowdfunding rules and forms will be effective 180 days after they are published in the Federal Register. The forms enabling funding portals to register with the Commission will be effective Jan. 29, 2016. Click here to learn more.

SIMMONS FIRST COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF MISSOURI BANK: Simmons First National Corp. has completed the acquisition of Ozark Trust and Investment Corp. of Springfield, Mo., including the wholly owned non-depository trust subsidiary Trust Company of the Ozarks. Trust Company of the Ozarks, which was founded in 1998, provides a range of financial services for its clients, including investment management, trust services, IRA rollovers and transfers, successor trustee services and custodial services.

Simmons CEO George Makris said that as Simmons’ first acquisition of a fee-only financial firm, Trust Company of the Ozarks provides a wealth-management capability that can be leveraged across the company’s four-state geographic footprint in Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Tennessee.