Bankers and community groups agree on several areas of possible Community Reinvestment Act regulatory reforms, according to a summary of several roundtable meetings released by the Federal Reserve today. The summary, based 29 roundtables nationwide that included more than 400 participants, showed agreement that: Community Reinvestment Act assessment areas need to reflect community needs; rural communities have unique characteristics under CRA evaluations; the CRA performance test structure needs reform; this test should include different evaluation methods and not a single metric or ratio; CRA examinations need more clarity, consistency and timeliness; and definitions of eligible community development activities need to be clearer.
The summary covered additional banker and community group feedback on assessment areas, CRA in underserved communities, the CRA performance test structure, evaluation of performance and defining community development activities, all topics addressed in ABA’s comment letter last fall. For more information, contact ABA’s Krista Shonk.
