WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the agencies) today proposed targeted changes to their current rules implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to better align with the statutory mandate; better ensure that community development grants reach the communities they are intended to benefit; reduce burden for banks, particularly for community banks; and provide greater clarity for how to obtain CRA consideration. The CRA requires the agencies to assess a bank’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations.
The rulemaking would retain the key elements of the regulatory framework that the agencies have generally applied since 1995 and would propose certain substantive, technical, and process-oriented changes. Although the agencies adopted CRA final rules on October 24, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order enjoining those final rules before they went into effect.
The proposed rules announced today seek to increase the focus on lending and ensure that community development grants and donations reach the communities they are intended to benefit instead of being diverted to other activities or excessive operating costs. The proposed rules would also narrow the range of retail banking services the agencies consider to focus on credit services, thereby excluding deposit services.
Under the rulemaking, banks with $10 billion or less in assets would not be subject to data collection, maintenance, and reporting requirements and would receive more flexible supervision. The rulemaking would streamline other requirements and increase the clarity, transparency, and objectivity associated with CRA evaluations for banks of all sizes.
Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.
