The Federal Reserve today clarified its guidance on how it defines minority depository institutions, and expanded its definition to include women-owned financial institutions.
The Fed’s definition of “minority” is consistent with the definition established by the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, and it considers an MDI to be “any depository institution (either privately or publicly owned) where 51% or more of the voting stock is owned by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and in the case of a mutual institution where the majority of the board of directors consists of minority individuals, the majority of the account holders consists of minority individuals, and the community which it services is predominantly minority.” Institutions may also be considered MDIs if “a majority of its board of directors consists of minority individuals and the community that the institution serves is predominantly minority.”
The Fed definition of a “women’s depository institution” is consistent with the definition of this term in the Community Reinvestment Act, “and includes any depository institution in which more than 50% of the ownership or control of which is held by one or more women; more than 50% of the net profit or loss of which accrues to 1 or more women; and a significant percentage of senior management positions of which are held by women. View the guidance.
