Washington, D.C. — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation voted today on a proposed rule to update the regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are expected to follow in short order.
Here’s What BPI is Saying: Katie Collard, BPI senior vice president and associate general counsel, issued the following statement in response:
We look forward to reviewing the proposal in detail and submitting comments during the rulemaking process. At first glance we are encouraged by the agencies’ efforts to make CRA evaluation more objective, transparent and predictable and to clarify and expand the types of activities that qualify for CRA credit. BPI supports a coordinated interagency approach to CRA reform and appreciates the agencies’ effort to achieve a framework that better serves low- to moderate-income and underserved minority communities. It is incumbent upon the banking agencies to arrive at a final rule that applies CRA standards consistently to all banks. The final rule should also further incentivize the adoption of financial inclusion programs, such as Bank On certified accounts, by giving banks clarity on how these programs will be treated under the CRA framework.
What’s the Background: The Community Reinvestment Act was originally enacted in 1977, and the current rule implementing it has largely remained unchanged since 1995. The law requires the FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to assess financial institutions’ records of meeting the credit needs of their communities, including low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, and to encourage institutions to help serve those needs. The OCC recently sought to modernize the CRA regulatory framework on an independent basis; however, that effort was abandoned in May 2021 in favor of a new interagency approach intended to better reflect the feedback from industry and consumer groups.
Go Deeper: To learn more about BPI’s Community Reinvestment Act engagement, please access the links below, or click here.
- BPI and Coalition of Trades Comment on OCC’s Community Reinvestment Act Proposed Rulemaking
- Equity Should Be Required of the Entire Financial Sector, Not Just Banks
- BPI Statement on Banking Agencies’ CRA Announcement
- BPI Statement in Response to OCC’s Announcement on the Community Reinvestment Act
- BPI and Coalition of Trades Request OCC Withdraw or Delay June 2020 CRA Rule
- Bank On and CRA: A Powerful Yet Simple Change That Can Increase Financial Inclusion
- BPI Asks Fed in Comment Letter to Spur Fresh Unified CRA Approach
- BPI Urges Unified, Modernized CRA Approach Among Bank Regulators
- BPI and Coalition of Trades Submit Letter to OCC in Response to CRA Information Collection Survey
- BPI, Joint Trades Urge OCC to Join Fed, FDIC in Joint Rulemaking on CRA
- BPI Highlights Data Gaps, Other Challenges in FDIC, OCC CRA Revision
- Recommendations for Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Regulatory Framework Issue Summary
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About Bank Policy Institute.
The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is a nonpartisan public policy, research and advocacy group, representing the nation’s leading banks and their customers. Our members include universal banks, regional banks and the major foreign banks doing business in the United States. Collectively, they employ almost 2 million Americans, make nearly half of the nation’s small business loans, and are an engine for financial innovation and economic growth.
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